


What Horror Lies Within

by AJFormerlyPhoenix



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Cutting, Drug Abuse, Good Slade Wilson, Hanging, Joseph Wilson might be insane, Mental Health Issues, Other, Overdose, Parent Slade Wilson, Prolicide, Psychological Distress, Robin is trying, Slade Wilson's A+ Parenting, Someone gets stabbed, Suicide Attempt, Temporary Death, but like actually though, jumping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 41,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28601943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJFormerlyPhoenix/pseuds/AJFormerlyPhoenix
Summary: There's something lurking, just out of sight. How can it be stopped when no one knows what's happening? Joseph is desperate to put an end to his fears, and only his closest friends can save him. Will they find all the answers in time, or will they be too late to stop this darkness from destroying him?
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Joseph Wilson, Dick Grayson & Raven, Joseph Wilson & Dick Grayson & Raven, Joseph Wilson & Slade Wilson, Raven & Joseph Wilson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue - Unravel

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on fanfic on November 18, 2017.  
> MIND THE TAGS  
> Once upon a time I watched The Exorcist and I liked the themes of uncertainty whether or not there was an actual possession going on. Then also I watched Stranger Things season 2 and the similar themes were explored, and I loved it. This isn't a songfic but each chapter has a corresponding song, and it's not strictly necessary to listen to the songs, but it will enhance your reading experience and maybe even give you extra clues about what's going on. This chapter has song lyrics at the end, for emphasis, but the other ones won't, so don't let that drive you away if you don't like it. 
> 
> [Here's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E23q-RX9hvY&ab_channel=CalebHyles) the song for this chapter!
> 
> Song: Unravel, by Tōru 'TK' Kitajima

Something didn't seem quite right. Robin couldn't place it, but he had an uncomfortable feeling that he couldn't shake. He'd woken up, earlier than usual, but he felt rested enough so he got up anyway. He stayed dressed in a t-shirt and sweats, feeling a bit lazy. He left his mask behind, as he'd grown used to not wearing it so much around the Tower. In more recent years, he'd opened up to his friends, and stopped wearing a mask both physically and metaphorically.

Robin went up to the roof, something he often did, and was surprised to see someone up here already, this early. Joseph was standing at the edge, facing outward to the sea, away from the outline of the city, away from the lightening sky. Robin frowned. Joey did like to watch the sunrise now and again, but it was still a bit early for that. Plus, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Joey was wearing the same jeans and shirt he was wearing last night. It struck Robin as odd. Had he been out here all night?

"Joey?" he said, trying to speak softly enough not to startle his friend. "It's really early, what are you doing up here?"

Joseph turned slightly towards Robin, as the younger teen approached. Sometimes, Joseph took a little while to really participate in conversation. Not just because he was mute, but because he didn't always have anything to say, or sometimes he just couldn't find the words. This seemed like the latter of the two, so Robin decided to carry the conversation as much as possible until Joey was ready to talk back.

As he stood by his friend's side, Robin noticed that the blonde was shivering slightly, almost shaking. He frowned again.

"Are you cold? The sun won't be up for a while, we can go inside and make coffee or hot chocolate or something," he offered.

Joseph shook his head. _I can't go back inside…_

Robin could only raise an eyebrow, facing his friend, trying to pick up the clues in his expression and body language. Joseph seemed so… blank, and empty… _Something just isn't right_.

"Of course you can go back inside," he sad gently. He recognized signs of anxiety, maybe depression. Those types of things can lead to irrational thought, so Robin figured the least he could do was help ground his friend in reality. "You won't miss the sunrise, you know, there's time."

Joey shook his head again. _No, if I go inside I won't want to come back out here._

Robin was confused, but pressed on. "You can come back up again if you want, you know. You can do whatever you like, I promise."

For a third time, Joseph shook his head, frowning deeply, distressed. _No, Robin, you don't understand… I've been out here all night. There's something I need to do but I really don't want to… I was hoping I would be brave enough to do it before the sun came up…._

Instantly, the Teen Wonder reached out, wrapping a hand around Joey's wrist. He didn't like the way this conversation was headed. "Joseph, come away from the edge… Whatever it is you think you have to do, we can talk about it. Let's go back inside."

Robin's mind was racing. Surely Joseph wasn't suicidal? Maybe he had his days with anxiety, stemming from past traumas, just like they all did, but Robin knew Joseph, and Joseph loved life. He appreciated it deeply, constantly seeing the beauty in the world, making an effort to show others the brighter side of things when needed. He openly thought of all life as precious, including his own. No matter how down on himself he got, Joseph always found ways to bounce back. Robin wasn't sure if he could believe what Joey was signing now. Surely there was a misunderstanding?

Joey pulled his wrist free, gently, to sign again, but Robin remained tense, ready to reach out if he had to.

_I don't want to die, if that's what you're thinking,_ he signed, sadness in his eyes. _I don't know how to explain what's going on… I don't even understand it to begin with._

"We'll talk it through," Robin offered again. "No matter what it is, we can figure it out, I promise. Don't worry."

Joseph moved to sit down, letting out a heavy breath. He gestured for Robin to sit with him, and the younger of the two obliged. They sat quietly on the edge of the roof for a while, staring out to the sea. It was calm, and peaceful. Today would be a nice day, it would be warm and sunny, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The atmosphere between them was relaxed, and it almost made Robin willing to drop the whole issue. Almost.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" he asked gently. "Talk to me, please…"

Joey let out another breath, tucking one knee up and turning towards Robin. _I'll try. Like I said, I don't understand exactly what's happening. I just know that it's bad._

"I'm listening."

The blonde nodded, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. _I've been having… dreams, but that's not the right word. I don't know what they are, they just come when I'm sleeping. There's something evil, on the horizon. It's trying to come here, and I've been trying to understand what it is so that I can think of a way to stop it._

"So, is it like a voice? Do you hear it or see it in your dreams?" Robin asked.

Joseph shrugged. _A little of both, I guess, but neither is very clear. The only really strong thing coming through is its intent. It wants to come here, and destroy everything, kill everyone._ He seemed to turn pale, thinking about it. He shivered again. _It's stuck somewhere else right now, but somehow…_

Robin tilted his head forward. "Somehow what? What is it?"

_It sounds crazy, now that I think about it,_ the mute answered. _Still, I know that it's the truth._

"Tell me, I'm listening."

There was another small pause, Robin waited tensely, until Joey continued. _Somehow, it's coming...through me._

"I...don't understand…"

_I don't either. I don't know what's going on,_ Joseph admitted, tears starting to fall down. _I just know that it's real. It's very powerful, and dangerous, and if it ever makes it here it will be all my fault._

"Hey," Robin reached out, clasping a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay. I believe you, but we need to figure this out. Maybe Raven can look into it? If anyone can figure it out it's her."

Joseph didn't say anything, tears still streaming down his face. _I don't want to do it…_

"Do what? Let something evil get to you?" Robin gave his friends shoulder another squeeze. "It won't happen, I promise. We won't let it."

The mute let out a shaky breath. _I know… We can't let it. Listen,_ he looked up again, _before I became a Titan, I had another weird sort of dream. I never really thought about it since then, but now I think it might have something to do with this._

"What was your dream?"

_It was a few years ago, when I lived in Tibet. It was like I was frozen in space, everything was red. There was some horrible being there, something evil and powerful,_ Joey explained. _Probably the same thing I keep having visions of now. And… my father was there. They were bargaining. I was somehow part of the deal, but I couldn't hear what they said, only the tones of their voices. At first I thought that if my dad messed up, I'd get killed, but now I don't think that's true. There's more to it than that._

Robin sat back, thinking it over. He had some idea of what this might mean, but was it real? Or was it only a vision, metaphorical rather than literal? Now he definitely wanted Raven to look into it, right away.

"A few years ago?" he asked. "I have an idea… I don't know if this is possible, but Raven can tell us. She'll probably be up soon, and we can talk to her then."

Once more, Joey didn't answer. He leaned over against his friend, and Robin supported his weight. The darker-haired teen hoped he was helping Joseph feel a little better. What a horrible feeling it must be, to have something telling you that you'll cause so much pain and destruction. No wonder he seemed to be in such bad shape. However, now that they were getting to the bottom of it, Robin felt hopeful that it would all work out soon. He wished Joseph had told him what was going on sooner, but at least he knew now.

The sun was starting to rise behind them, warming their backs. Eventually, Joseph sat up again, looking back to the eastern horizon. Robin saw something in his eyes, but didn't quite know what it was. Longing? Sorrow? Joey mouthed two words, seemingly to himself, that only made it more confusing.

_No time…_

"No time for what?"

Joseph looked at him, very seriously for a moment, before his gaze softened. _Now we won't have time to go make coffee and be back before the sun rises._

Robin wasn't entirely sure if that was really what Joseph had meant when he said there was no time. He couldn't tell if his friend was being truthful. Usually Joey was very honest, though, so maybe that was really all he meant by it. The blonde smiled softly.

_Unless you want to go get some?_ He prodded, the smile holding a bit of tease in it. Robin let out a quiet laugh.

"Okay, I will. I'll be back so quick, I won't miss a thing," he vowed. He didn't mind doing this small favor. A good sunrise was exactly what his friend needed, and he deserved to enjoy every second of it. Whatever would cheer him up, he deserved it; he deserved to be happy again. Robin stood up, making his way to the door to go back inside. Just as he reached the door, however, he heard Joseph standing up. He glanced back, just as a response to sound, and saw that Joey was indeed standing up, facing the sunrise. It shone on his face, and glistened on fresh tears. Robin froze up, registering Joey's expression. Pain, and fear-

He bolted, darting across the roof towards his friend, his gut wrenching in horror, but even as he did, Joseph took one step backwards into empty air. Robin was screaming, he could feel it in his throat, but he heard nothing but his heart pounding, making blood rush through his ears. Soundlessly, Joseph's hand pressed into a fist against his chest, his mouth forming the same word that he signed.

_Sorry._

Memories overlapped reality for a split second, as time slowed down. Dick Grayson's parents fell, reaching up for him uselessly, calling his name. Joseph didn't reach out. He didn't cry for help. If he had reached, Robin could have grabbed him, but the Teen Wonder only snatched at empty air, nearly throwing himself off balance. He saw Joseph falling over the edge, and finally started to hear his own screaming again. His friend's expression was haunting. Time was still moving slowly, and his hand went to his hip, only to find nothing. His belt was in his room.

Joseph was falling, and Robin fell to his knees, tears of anguish and horror streaming down his cheeks as he watched, completely unable to do anything about it.

* * *

_Oh can you tell me, can you tell me_

_The way that this should work_

_Just who's inside of me; the monster pulling strings_

_I'm broken lying helpless dying_

_Surrounded by the world_

_I'm damaged now,_ _and I'm breaking down_

_Unraveled and can't breathe_

_The truth I seek_ _never felt so bleak_

_I feel it drop degrees (freeze)_

_So breakable, unbreakable_

_So shakeable, unshakeable_

_Was shaken up when I found you_

_I'm standing here watching the world as it falls around me_

_You're so close but I hope that you stop searching_

_I don't want you to foresee what I've become_

_So please stop searching_

_I don't wanna hurt you, it's not my nature_

_A monster born, I'm fading more,_ _can't be your saviour_

_I'm falling victim,_ _remember the old me_

_As who I still should be_

_The endless pain of solitude wraps tight around my fortitude_

_Those memories inside of me,_ _innocently they pierce through me_

_I can't escape this unraveled soul_

_There's something deep inside of me;_ _a change was made, I can't break free_

_The darkness and the light collide,_ _our fate ahead won't be denied_

_So breakable, unbreakable_

_So shakeable, unshakeable_

_These dirty hands, no they won't touch you_

_I'm standing here watching the world as it falls around me_

_You're so close but I hope that you stop searching_

_I don't want you to foresee what I've become_

_So please stop searching_

_I'm trapped in this cage that the world created_

_Before the future melts away I have to say this_ _(I'm falling faster)_

_Remember who I was_

_Remember who I once was_

_Please don't forget me_

_There's no turning back now I know I'm paralyzed_

_I'm trapped inside this paradise and with this parasite_

_I'm falling victim_

_Remember who I was_

_Oh please just tell me_

_Just who's inside of me_

_The monster pulling strings_


	2. My Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joseph may have survived his suicide attempt, but he's far from okay. Robin is desperately trying to figure out what's happening before it's too late. Is the simplest answer always the right one?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this wasn't up yesterday. I put it all in and I swear I saved it as a draft but when I went to post it, it wasn't there. It was too late at night for me to get it all put up again, because I'm editing things a little as I go, so I'm a day late. Sorry! I'll be extra vigilant and make sure to get stuff out once a week, on Wednesdays, for as long as I have stuff I can post. 
> 
> Meanwhile, the song for this chapter is [My Demons by Starset.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkll0StZJLA) Great song.

A black shadow sprung from the wall of the Tower, wrapping itself around Joseph like a heavy blanket. The blonde disappeared with the shadow, as it retreated back into the Tower. Robin choked on his tears, feeling an incredible amount of relief. He knew this wasn’t over yet, and got back to his feet, sprinting inside. 

He met up with Raven in the main room, hearing the sound of her crying, as well as things breaking. Her emotions were causing her powers to break free of her control, making things all over the room shatter and crumble. She was kneeling on the floor, in the center of the room, holding Joseph’s limp form, cradling him against her chest. She looked up at Robin, looking as horrified as he felt. 

“What happened?” she demanded. “Why is he trying to  _ kill himself?” _

“I-” Robin choked again. He didn’t really know. He was stuck in a whirlwind of emotions, too many to let him focus. He was still caught up in the initial horror of watching his friend step off the roof. He couldn’t wrap his head around it, let alone fully grasp the reality that he’d been rescued. He simply stood there, gaping like a fish. 

“You watched it happen!” she shouted at him, still hysterical. “How could you let him do that? Why didn’t you help him!”

Just then, the door opened again behind him, and the others came in. 

“Yo, what’s all the commotion?” Cyborg asked. 

“Dude!” Beast Boy piped up, seeing Joseph and Raven both on the ground. “What the heck happened?”

“Joseph- he…” Robin was still at a loss for words. “He just… stepped off the roof…” The confusion was clear in his voice, but the others still reacted as expected. 

“He fell?” Starfire asked with a shocked gasp.

“You don’t mean…” Cyborg said, warily. 

“Yes,” Raven answered him softly, yet with a sharp tone in her voice. “He did it on purpose, it wasn’t an accident.”

“Is.. Is he okay?” Beast Boy asked, his voice low. 

“I caught him,” Raven said. “I thought it must have been an accident, until I sensed his feelings. I looked into his mind and realized the truth. I knew he’d try it again so I forced him into unconsciousness.”

“How did this happen?” Star wanted to know. “What made our friend wish to-?” She couldn’t finish the thought. 

Robin shook his head. “I’m not quite sure. I think he was up there all night. I went up about an hour ago, and I was talking to him. He was very upset about something, and he tried to explain it, but he wasn’t sure what it even was.”

“What do you mean?” BB asked, impatiently. His fears were quickly turning to frustration. 

“It’s hard to explain… He said there was something evil coming, something bad would happen, and that it would be his fault.”

“That makes sense….” Raven murmured, starting to calm down a bit. “He didn’t want to die, that much was clear, but he was doing it out of some sense of duty. I didn’t understand how that could happen, but now I do…”

Robin nodded. “I want to talk to you about the things he told me. I think there’s more to it. I don’t know if this evil entity is real, but it’s real to him, and we have to get to the bottom of it. We have to help him.”

“Wait-” BB said suddenly, looking up at Robin. “You were with him! Why didn’t you stop him?” He threw out the same accusations as Raven, and Robin still didn’t have a proper answer. 

“I thought… I thought he was _okay_ ,” he answered. “I didn’t think he was going to do it. He seemed to be doing better than when I came up, and we were talking about solutions to the problem. He said he didn’t want to die, and I believed him. So, when he asked if I would go make some coffee I got up and walked away. I didn’t-” his voice broke a bit. “I wasn’t fast enough to save him. If it weren’t for Raven…”

Starfire came over, putting her hands on his shoulders. “It is alright… Do not blame yourself, you did nothing wrong.”

“I thought he was okay,” Robin repeated, blinking back tears. Beast Boy’s ears and shoulders drooped. Robin knew he was only angry out of grief. 

Cyborg stepped up to Raven, getting down on one knee and lifting Joseph up. “He can rest in the med bay until we get this all figured out. We’ll make sure nothing else happens.”

Raven nodded, wiping away the remains of tears and standing up. “It might be best if we…”

The eldest Titan nodded, looking grim. “I’ve got some mild sedatives, and some restraints if we need to use them. It’s not pleasant, but for now it’s necessary.”

Together as a team, they all made their way to the medical bay, quiet and somber. Cyborg placed Joseph in bed, going into their supply cupboards to get the sedative. The others stood by, worrying. After he’d injected the drug into Joey’s system, Cyborg straightened up, letting out a heavy breath. 

“That’ll buy us a few hours, at least,” he said. “By then we need to have decided what to do.”

“There’s some things he was telling me…” Robin said. “It might be the answer, but it’s pretty dark stuff. I wanted to talk it over with Raven first; if what I think is happening is really happening, then we can figure it out from there. If it’s not, then we’ll have to take a different course of action.”

“If that is what you think is best,” Starfire said, “then we trust you.”

“Go talk it over,” Beast Boy agreed. “We’ll wait here with Joey.”

Raven nodded to Robin and followed him back out to the hall. They walked down to the other end and went into the evidence room. Robin shut the door behind them, feeling a pit in his stomach. 

“What is it?” Raven wanted to know. She knew that if Robin wanted to tell her, privately, then it must be something truly dark and terrible. 

“It’s hard to explain,” Robin admitted. “Joseph said he didn’t even understand it himself, but I’ll tell you everything he told me. Then, I’ll tell you what I think it might be, though you might come to the same conclusion yourself.”

“Alright,” the empath nodded, crossing her legs and sitting in the air, in the same position she meditated in. Robin leaned against one of the cases, feeling drained. “Tell me everything. What’s going on?”

For the next half hour, Robin related everything Joseph had told him to Raven, getting into as much detail as he could. He told her about the bad things their friend was seeing and hearing, what they told him. He told Raven about how certain Joseph was that something evil was coming, and that it was somehow going to come from him. Lastly, he told her about the vision Joseph had had a few years back. 

“If he had it back then,” Robin said, “around the same time that Trigon came here the last time, then do you think that might have something to do with what’s happening now?”

Raven thought quietly for a moment, weighing her thoughts carefully. “I believe that the vision from a few years ago was real,” she said finally. “It’s something Trigon would do. True, he promised to pay Slade back with his physical body again if he brought me back, but that would only buy Slade’s loyalty up until my part was over.”

“Joseph said that at first he thought it meant Trigon would kill him if Slade stepped out of line, but even when Slade turned on Trigon, nothing bad happened to him.”

“You’re right, there would be more to it than that,” she agreed, touching her fingertips to her temples. “I’m just not sure what. Trigon came and went, and nothing happened to Joseph.”

“Didn’t it?” Robin asked. “What’s happening to him now?”

“I’m not sure this has anything to do with Trigon,” she admitted. “It’s believable that Trigon was keeping Joseph during the time that Slade was working for him. Maybe Trigon just… messed up. He was definitely overconfident in his power at the time. Maybe he was waiting to kill Joseph off in front of Slade, after he defeated us. That seems to be the most logical answer.”

“Then what’s happening _now_?” Robin repeated. 

Raven paused slightly, looking downcast. “I don’t think anything supernatural is happening,” she admitted. “I think it’s all in his head.”

Robin opened his mouth, wanting to protest, but couldn’t quite find an argument. He didn’t believe that; there had to be something more to it than just…

“Raven, I haven’t told you what my idea was, yet,” he said after a few minutes. “It might sound absurd, but I think it’s a possibility worth looking into.”

She nodded. “Alright, tell me what it is. Maybe there’s something I haven’t thought of.”

“It’s just that, the way he was talking, it reminded me of the way you spoke, back then,” Robin said. “That there was something terrible coming, and no way to stop it, that it was going to come because of you. So, I thought, maybe…”

“I know where you’re going with this,” she said, placing her feet on the ground. “It’s impossible. Trigon can’t come back through Joseph.”

“Why not?” Robin asked. “It fits. That would explain why he never killed Joey when Slade betrayed him. It would explain the visions and dreams he’s been having. The only thing I can see that’s a bit off is the time gap between then and now; three years isn’t as long as fifteen, and that’s how long he waited before using you.”

“Robin,” Raven said, lifting a hand up, a sad look in her eyes. “I know it would be easier to think that there’s some otherworldly explanation for this, but there’s not. If Trigon were able to make a portal into our world with any human, I wouldn’t have been conceived,” she told him. “Trigon needs a demon to make a portal, someone with his genes to act as proxy. I’m half demon, and that’s part of why he had to wait so long to use me. Joseph isn’t a demon at all, and even if he were  _ part  _ demon, Trigon would need much longer than three years to use him.”

Robin frowned, trying to think of something to justify his theory, but there was nothing more to say. He looked down at the ground, slowly coming to grips with the only possible answer left. “Then, if that’s not it, Joseph is just…”

“Going insane?” Raven filled in. Her voice was sympathetic but that didn’t stop her from being a bit blunt too. “It’s not a very far stretch. There’s a lot of factors involved that indicate he’s more than likely to suffer from some mental health problems.”

“He said that whatever it is haunting him now is the same as what he saw back then,” Robin pointed out. “That can’t just be a coincidence.” 

“It’s probably manifesting as something his mind is already familiar with,” Raven countered. “Listen, Joseph and I have been inside each other’s heads. I know for a fact that whenever he possesses someone, a part of them imprints onto his brain. He gets into the heads of a lot of evil people who are really messed up psychologically. When you think of it that way, it was only a matter of time-”

“That can’t be right!” Robin cut her off. “He told me about that, but he said he was being careful. He only uses his powers when he absolutely has to, in life or death situations. I know Joseph, he’s strong-willed, he wouldn’t let something like that get to him.”

“Then consider his DNA,” said Raven, staying calm. “He got his powers through his father, who got _his_ through a military experiment. If you recall, Slade was the only one of about 50 people who didn’t die or  _ go insane _ . It’s in his genes, Robin. Even if he were extremely careful about his powers-”

“No!” Robin snapped, his hand cutting through the air. “It can’t be that- there must be something more going on, people don’t just start hearing voices for no reason!”

“There is a reason, Robin,” Raven said firmly, without raising her voice. “I just told you. Unless you know of some kind of insanity-inducing ray gun, I don’t think there’s anything more to it.” 

It was quiet for a long while, Robin trying to get a grip on his temper. Raven was right. There was no other logical explanation. In fact, it made a whole lot of sense. That didn’t make it any easier. Robin had known far too many villains with psychological problems- Gotham was crawling with them. He didn’t want to see his friend in the same situation. He was beginning to understand how Bruce felt when it came to Two-Face…

“I’m not giving up yet,” he said. “I want to test for any kind of drugs or foreign substances. I went through the same thing when I got hit with those hallucinogens, and that wasn’t the first time it’d happened to me. I know a lot of different villains who use drugs and chemicals like that. We have to exhaust every single possibility before we make any hasty decisions.”

“I understand, Robin,” she said. Raven already knew what Robin was thinking, and what he was afraid of. Robin had more experience with these types of issues than anyone else, and he’d seen the worst of the worst. Of course he didn’t want to admit Joseph had the same sort of issues. Hopefully, it would turn out to be different; it would be a lot simpler to discover an outside source and put a stop to it than to actually deal with their teammate going insane, but Raven didn’t think it was likely. 

She tried to focus on Robin’s perspective. From what she’d heard, Arkham was a nasty place, and it made her shiver to think of Joey stuck somewhere even half as bad. Yet, it was a real possibility, and if Robin wasn’t on board with it as a solution, then no one else would be either. She mentally prepared herself for the worst, already deciding what she would say to help convince Robin to do what was best for their friend, no matter how much they didn’t like it. 

They made their way back to the med bay, where the others were waiting, grim and tense. They looked to Robin for answers, putting him on the spot. 

“Take a blood sample,” he said. “We’re going to test for anything abnormal. Anything even slightly out of place.”

Cyborg nodded and got to work right away. Raven could see that the others were already starting to believe that this was the answer. They hadn’t thought of it as deeply as she had. To them it still wasn’t a possibility that their friend could be going insane. She didn’t want to ruin that for them just yet. 

It was a good ten minutes before the results were ready, and Robin was feeling antsy. How much time had passed since Joseph stepped off the roof? How much longer until he woke up and they had to confront him again? On one hand it felt like a whole day had already gone by. On the other hand, time was passing too slowly. He wanted answers, right away, before it was too late. He remembered what Joseph had said. 

_ No time… _

No time, indeed.

With a low buzz, a notification popped up on the screen of the small computer in the corner. Cyborg had already been standing there while they waited, and opened up the results, reading through them carefully. He released a deep breath, standing up straight. 

“His blood matches with the sample we have on file, give or take a few miniscule fluctuations in things like cell count and cholesterol levels. There’s nothing there,” he said, discouraged. 

Robin frowned sharply, walking over and getting a look for himself. “That can’t be right… There has to be something there.”

“Rob, his blood is showing up as an exact match. Nothing different or new here now compared to when he joined the team,” Cyborg repeated himself. “I mean, yeah, he’s metahuman so it’s not exactly like yours or mine, but there’s nothing abnormal. No sign of any drugs or foreign substances or nanobots.”

Robin let out an angry growl, hitting his fist against the desk in frustration. “This isn’t right! There’s something we’re missing, something we’re not seeing! If we just-”

“Robin.” Raven wasn’t loud, but her tone cut him off effectively. He glared down at the floor, wanting to pretend no one was behind him, and that nothing was wrong. 

“Please….” Starfire stepped up behind him, placing gentle hands on his shoulders. “Joseph will wake up again soon, and we must decide how to help him.”

“How can we figure out how to help him if we can’t even figure out what’s wrong?” he answered bitterly. 

For a moment, no one spoke. None of them had an answer, and it seemed that they were all waiting for someone else to take the lead. Normally, that was Robin’s position, but right now he just felt too lost. He was inwardly kicking himself for letting this happen. What kind of leader let his friend and teammate get driven to the point of suicide? 

Eventually, Raven spoke again. “The immediate issue is making sure he won't- can’t -try to kill himself again. We can figure out what’s causing it later, as long as we resolve that first.” She continued to refrain from pointing out what she believed the real issue to be. Robin wasn’t ready to accept that, let alone the others. 

“Like I said, we still have the restra-”

“ _ Don’t. _ ” Robin cut Cyborg off sharply, turning around, knocking Starfire’s hands away as he did. “We can’t do that to him. I won’t allow it.” Even years later, he was haunted by his own experience being drugged into thinking he was crazy. His friends had tried to help him, and they’d done the right thing, but it was still somewhat traumatizing to be strapped to a hospital bed, unable to escape danger, real or not. He couldn’t stand by and watch the same thing happen to Joey. “I’ll stay with him. I won’t let it happen again.”

“Dude…” Beast Boy said, rubbing the back of his neck, “that’s a full-time job. That’s more than any of us are qualified for. Even if we weren’t also superheroes.”

“Beast Boy is right,” Starfire admitted. “We cannot watch him forever. Are there not people on earth who can take on such a large task?”

“There are places for-” Raven started to explain, but once more Robin cut her off. 

“No! We are  _ not  _ going to do that, either!” he insisted, swiping a hand through the air. “End of story!”

“Rob,” Cyborg spoke up, “we don’t have a whole lot of options. We don’t even understand the full situation yet. But, we have to keep all the possibilities in mind. We all just want to help him, you know that.”

“Help him?” their leader scoffed. “Believe me, that’s no way to  _ help _ someone. Locking them up doesn’t do any good. Something bad is happening to him and all you guys want to do is tie him down or send him away! That way you won’t have to deal with it, right?”

“Robin, you are overreacting,” Star said gently. “None of us wants to get rid of our friend or hurt him. I agree, these solutions are not pleasant, but we truly do not have many options.”

“Look, we know these are sensitive subjects, but we’re still just kids,” Beast Boy added. “I mean, I’m the youngest and I’m almost 18, but even Cyborg isn’t really qualified to handle this, and he’s the oldest! If there’s something really wrong, you know, in his head, none of us can help him, dude.”

“We don’t even know what’s wrong,” Robin said sharply. “We might be the  _ only  _ ones who can help him.”

“Robin, don’t get worked up,” Raven said gently. “We all want the same thing, right? We want to help our friend. How do you want to do that?”

“We figure out what’s wrong,” he said. “What’s  _ really _ wrong.”

“You still think it’s something else, don’t you?” Raven said pointedly. It wasn’t even really a question. 

“Look,” he snapped back, “the same thing happened to me and I wasn’t crazy. We can’t just assume he’s lost his mind or something.”

“That’s not what we’re saying, Rob,” Cyborg said, putting his palms up in a calming gesture. “Whatever’s wrong, we still need to figure it out. And we’ve done all we can here at the Tower. Whether it’s from a hospital or a doctor or whatever else, we need outside help, and we have to decide how to go about it.”

“And maybe,” Beast Boy added softly, looking at the floor, “maybe Raven’s right. Maybe it’s all in his head.”

Before Robin could once again argue, Starfire put a hand on his arm. “It is possible, friend Robin. It is unpleasant, but if it is the truth, we must accept it.”

Robin took a deep breath, combating all of his inner turmoil. This whole morning had been messed up. It wasn’t even noon and things were getting turned upside down, making  _ him _ feel like he might be going crazy. He’d been wrong about Joseph being okay to be left alone. He had to admit that he could be wrong about this too. Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about the time he’d been drugged, and he wasn’t ready to give up. 

“We have to try everything,” he said after a moment of silence. “Absolutely everything, leave no possibility out. We can get in members of the League, all the top doctors and specialists. Raven, check your books, Cyborg check your databases. If there’s anything even a little bit like this that has happened before, we have to look into it.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Cyborg promised, stepping closer to put a hand on Robin’s shoulder. “Whatever’s going on, it won’t stop us.”

“I can call Mento,” Beast Boy offered. “Maybe he can come by, and give Joey’s head a look? He's qualified to do that.”

“Yeah,” Robin said, sounding tired. “He could find something we can’t.”

Raven was watching the blonde carefully. “He’ll wake up soon enough…. I’m not sure how he’ll react right away but I doubt it will be very pleasant.”

“Perhaps we should give him some space,” Starfire said, sadly. “It may be easier for him if only one of us were here when he wakes up.”

“I’ll stay,” Robin volunteered, echoing his earlier promise. “Raven, stay by the door just in case. Everyone else… Let’s just get to work trying to figure this out while we have the free time.”

They all nodded, shuffling out. Truthfully, none of them were really ready to confront their friend after his drastic actions. Raven had been prepared to stay if Robin didn’t want to. She could work through uncomfortable and painful situations, and she would very easily be able to tell if Joseph was going to try something before he even had the chance to. However, she was satisfied with staying out of sight, but within range. 

Starfire reached out one last time, giving Robin’s hand a squeeze. “I can look up information about the hospitals in the city, and start gathering the names of some who could help us.”

“Thank you, Star,” Robin said. He wasn’t going to start looking for doctors just yet, not until after Mento had a chance to check Joseph out, but it wouldn’t hurt to have the information ready; just in case. No matter _why_ Jericho had tried to kill himself, he'd still done it. He was not okay, and he might need a therapist or something. He didn't deserve to be in such a dark place, mentally.

As everyone left, he pulled a chair up to the side of Joey’s bed, between it and the door. He put his elbows on his knees, wishing he’d had the chance to make some coffee after all. He felt so tired, but his mind was still racing. Unfortunately, without new information (or at the very least, some rest) he only thought in circles, coming up with nothing new. He watched the rise and fall of Joseph’s chest, the only sign of life. Robin waited for his breathing to change, preparing himself for anything. 

Eventually, there was some slight movement. Joseph’s fingers twitched, and his eyebrows creased. He frowned in his sleep, seeming as if he were dreaming, unconsciously seeking answers to wordless questions. Robin waited tensely, not sure how his friend would react, once he realized he was still alive. Green eyes opened, slowly, blinking in the light. Joseph seemed lost, and confused, and for just a second it gave Robin the hope that Jericho would have somehow forgotten the whole thing.

Of course, that sort of thing only happened on TV or in the movies, didn’t it?

Joseph pushed himself up, rubbing his eye with one hand. He felt the gauze and tape in the crook of his elbow, looking down at it before peeling it off. The skin beneath was unmarked by now, though they’d drawn blood less than an hour ago. The only evidence of there being any wound was a small splotch of red on the gauze.

_ What… happened? _ Joseph signed, fixing his gaze on Robin. The Teen Wonder squirmed a bit, uncomfortable. 

“You stepped off the roof… Raven caught you,” he answered quietly. Joseph exhaled, looking down at his lap before signing again. 

_ That’s part of why I meant to do it before morning. _

“Stop that!” Robin snapped at him, breaking the relative silence. Joseph looked up at him, mildly surprised, but still eerily calm. “Stop talking like that! Like it’s no big deal!”

_ Robin, I- _

“No!” Emotion bubbled up quickly, to mask the pain. It was so much easier to feel frustrated than worried. “You jumped off the roof! You tried to  _ kill yourself! _ What the hell were you thinking?” he demanded. 

Joseph didn’t try to argue or defend himself.  _ I’m sorry. I didn’t want to upset anyone, no matter how inevitable that was. I knew it would cause problems, but I just felt like there was nothing else I could do to stop this bad thing from happening.  _

“I told you we were going to figure it out,” Robin said, pain in his voice. His eyes were watery but he tried to keep his tears back by holding on to his anger. “I said we would talk about it and make sure nothing bad happened. Why didn’t you believe me?”

_ I’m sorry, _ Joseph signed again, tears in his own eyes as well, he looked down at his lap.  _ I was afraid. I didn’t think we’d be able to find a solution, and then there would be no way out. If we couldn't find an answer, then the only way would be for me to be killed before it was too late, and I knew none of you would ever let that happen. I decided I didn’t want to risk letting it get that far. I didn’t want you to even have to think about deciding whether or not I should die.  _

“Of course we wouldn’t let you!” Robin said. 

He could sort of see Joey’s perspective though. Raven said he’d jumped off the roof with a sense of duty. If Joseph thought that there was something evil that was coming through him, and it couldn’t be stopped, of course he would take any action to stop it. He was a Titan, after all. Every day they went out, willingly putting their lives on the line, willing to sacrifice themselves to save others. 

“Listen,” he continued, “I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t want to try the same thing if I were in your position. The same exact thing happened to me once, if you remember. It was before you joined the team, even before Trigon came. I got drugged and hallucinated that Slade was back.”

_ I remember, you told me about it. _ Joseph said with a nod.

“No one else saw him, and no one believed me when I said he was there,” Robin continued. “I thought I was the only one who could stop him, and I was willing to do anything to make it happen. No matter how beat up I got, I didn’t stop. I was dying, and I was hurting my friends to try and do what I thought was the right thing. Then it turned out, none of it was real. I almost died before we figured it out, but I’m not going to let it get that bad for you.”

_ I’m glad you understand, _ Joseph said.  _ But this isn’t exactly the same. This isn’t a hallucination, I don’t see things when I’m awake. I feel something else inside of me that’s evil. _

“I know how real it can feel,” Robin said, trying to keep his tone gentle. “And I fully believe that it’s real to you, but it’s too early to really know anything for sure.”

Joseph frowned.  _ When you tested my blood, you didn’t find anything did you? _

“No, but there’s still other things to-”

_ Robin, please,  _ Joseph said.  _ I know when I told you what was happening up on the roof you thought the same thing I did. Have you talked to Raven yet? _

“Yes,” Robin answered, looking down. “I told her everything, what I thought was happening. What happened to you a few years ago was real, that part she agreed with. When Slade was working with Trigon, you got dragged into it as well. It’s not exactly clear beyond that, because as far as we can tell, nothing happened to you.”

_ Something DID happen, _ Joseph insisted.  _ I thought that you thought the same thing. Isn’t that what you wanted to talk to her about? _

“I did think that,” Robin told him, “I thought that maybe it was Trigon trying to come back again through you, but Raven said it was impossible. Trigon needs a demon or part demon for it to work.”

Joseph seemed to think about it for a moment, but then shook his head.  _ Maybe it’s not that, but it’s still something. I know it sounds crazy, and I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know that it’s real. Please, you believe me, right? _ He looked back up, pleadingly.  _ Look at me and tell me I’m not crazy. _

Robin didn’t answer at first. He didn’t know what he thought anymore. “I believe that you believe it, but I just don’t know what’s going on,” he admitted. “I promised we’d figure it out and we will, but… Joseph I don’t think there’s any real evil entity. I think someone is just trying to make you believe that there is.”

Joey looked hurt, making Robin look away with guilt. He was forced to look back up, when Joseph gestured for his attention. 

_ Robin, I know my own mind. There’s something there that shouldn’t be there. _

“I know,” Robin said. “I know there is.”

_ You just don’t think it’s dangerous? _

“I don’t know,” the younger said, feeling slightly frustrated. “At least… I don’t know if it will be dangerous to  _ you. _ You’re right, though, I don’t think that there’s anything coming. Joey, I went through the exact same thing, I know it’s hard to believe, but you’re safe, okay? There’s no danger, as long as you don’t try to hurt yourself again. That’s the only thing there is to be afraid of.”

_ You think it’s all in my head? _ The blonde asked, accusingly.  _ You think I’m just going nuts? _

Robin didn’t want to say anything, but his silence was enough. Joseph let out a heavy breath, clearly angry and hurt. He started signing again, and Robin looked up to see what he was saying, still avoiding his direct gaze. 

_ Fine, whatever. I don’t need anyone to believe me. If no one is going to offer any solutions beyond just suggesting that I’m insane, then I’m leaving. _

He swung his legs over the side of the bed to stand up again, but Robin reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. “Wait- you can’t go.”

Joseph gave him a pained look, but didn’t resist. 

“We’re working on figuring out what’s happening,” he said. “Plus, I can’t let you leave in good conscience because I know you’re likely to try it again. I can’t let that happen, you know that. You’re my friend, Joseph. I don’t want you to die or get hurt. I can’t just let you leave right now.”

Joey let out a breath.  _ I understand. I expected as much. I’ll stay, then, as long as you guys haven’t given up on me. _

“We never will,” Robin promised. “No matter what, we’ll figure this out and we’ll get through it.”

* * *

It was a tense day for everyone. They all stayed together in the main room. No one was really in a good mood; they didn’t talk or do much of anything. They were waiting for Mento to get here, as Beast Boy had talked him into coming to look into the issue, on a psychological level. As BB explained, Mento had spent some time studying the minds of different people who’d been diagnosed with different mental illnesses, so that he’d be able to recognize problems in people that he might encounter, and deal with it accordingly. If anyone could give a solid answer, they were confident that it would be him. 

The waiting was uncomfortable, at best. There was a rift between Joseph and his friends after what he’d done. He hadn’t wanted this, but he did feel a little better now that they knew what was happening. He didn’t have to deal with whatever it was alone anymore, and that was comforting. The others weren’t anywhere near as comforted. It was unsettling when someone you know has tried to kill themselves, and that was under normal circumstances. There was obviously more to this than that. 

When the alarm went off, Robin once again volunteered to stay. It was only a minor theft, not even a supervillain. Everyone was grateful for that; Joseph, because he felt the most comfortable with Robin right now, and the others because they just wanted to get away from the situation for a while. 

Mento didn’t arrive until the early evening, and they all gathered to meet him on the roof, where he landed with the Doom Patrol’s ship. The atmosphere was still tense, and grim. Mento’s slightly intimidating and stern presence didn’t help matters much. 

“Thanks for coming, Steve,” Beast Boy said, breaking the silence as his adopted father stepped down onto the roof. 

“It’s good to see you again, Garfield,” the man answered. “It’s unfortunate that it has to be under such dire circumstances.”

“We appreciate it,” Robin said. It wasn’t very often that different teams of heroes worked together. While a lot of them might be family, they all had different methodologies and ways of doing things, so it was easier to stay out of each other’s way. 

“If a Titan is in danger, I’m always willing to offer whatever help I can give,” Mento said. He turned to the blonde. “You must be Jericho, we haven’t officially met.”

_ I prefer Joseph,  _ he signed.  _ It’s nice to meet you. _

“Joseph it is, then,” the man said. “You don’t have to sign, I can’t read it anyway. It will be easiest to listen in on your thoughts, if you don’t mind.” 

Joey gave an approving nod, appreciating Mento’s openness. Obviously, the use of Mento’s powers was the whole reason for his presence here, but as someone who also had and used the ability to invade people’s minds, Joseph himself tried to ask permission first whenever possible. 

“Good. Then, I don’t see any point for putting things off,” Mento continued. “May I meet with you one on one, to try and understand what’s happening here?”

Joseph nodded again. He was a bit nervous about the whole ordeal, not knowing exactly what to expect. At the same time, however, he hoped that this would prove he wasn’t crazy, and then they could all work on figuring out the real issue. He walked inside with Mento, headed to the small conference room the Titans used for meetings. The rest of the Titans went back to the main room to wait for their answer. 

* * *

A little under two hours later, Mento came back alone, and everyone looked up at him expectantly, each holding their breath in anticipation. 

“Your friend went to his room to rest,” he told them. At their tense reactions, he held up a hand. “Don’t worry, he had no conscious thoughts of any type of self harm. However, as that could easily change at any time, without notice, I’d advise that Raven keep an eye on him through the night, or that someone stay with him.”

“I’ll keep tabs on his emotional and mental state,” Raven said. 

“What did you find out?” Robin wanted to know. He was dying for some kind of answer, for someone to just tell him what was going on and put an end to all of this uncertainty. 

“It wasn’t easy, for either of us,” Mento said, moving to the couch and taking a seat, while the Titans gathered around him. “His mind is structured a bit differently than anyone else’s. I’d say at least in part due to the nature of his powers. It took some extra time to find a middle ground to speak with him properly and assess the nature of his condition.”

“But you figured it out, didn’t you?” Cyborg pressed. 

“I believe so,” Mento said. “It’s true that when he uses his powers, a part of whoever he uses them on imprints in his brain. It’s been well-controlled, and even now most of the ‘foreign’ pieces are kept in a quarantine for lack of a better term. Still, it’s possible that some parts have leaked, or are starting to. He only has what he interprets as visions when he’s sleeping, so far. That’s when his mind is the most relaxed, and most likely to be less controlled. When he’s awake, there’s no signs of anything wrong.” 

“Do you think some outside force is triggering this?” Robin asked, anxious. 

“There’s no telling what set this off,” Mento told him. “At least not just by looking into his mind. All I can tell you is what it looks like to me, and you may even want to take that with a grain of salt.”

“Steve, just tell us what it is,” BB said, the frustration clear in his voice again. “We need to know what’s going on so we can figure out what to do.”

“It’s not exactly like an average mental illness,” the man said, “since it stems from metahuman genes and abilities. But, his symptoms present exactly the same as those with schizophrenia. It’s mild now, but if it continues to get worse, it could develop into dissociative identity disorder, worst case scenario. For now, he’s experiencing occasional episodes in which he sees something that’s not there, something that promises to do something evil if he doesn’t stop it, which drives him to thoughts of and even actual self-harm and suicide in attempts to protect the people around him. 

“I think whatever is ‘leaking’ from his past experiences with psychotic minds has taken on the appearance of Trigon, as that is the most evil thing he’s ever encountered. Subconsciously, he’s projecting an image of something familiar onto an otherwise faceless evil, to make it easier to process. And, like I said, in an extreme case it could develop into its own personality, taking control of his consciousness. It’s too early to know what the odds are of that, but getting treatment will help. I highly recommend that he stops using his power indefinitely.”

Everyone sat quietly as he explained, slightly shell-shocked. This was far more serious than any of them were prepared for. Each Titan turned to Robin, waiting for him to react and decide what they should do. They were in far over their heads this time. 

“What do you think we should do?” Robin eventually asked, at a complete loss. “What  _ can  _ we do?”

Mento let out a breath, feeling the weight of all of this even without being so directly involved. He felt bad for these kids, having to be caught up in the middle of it. He felt bad for Joseph, especially, who still didn’t grasp the reality of it, choosing to believe the things he heard in his head and take them at face value. Until the boy fully accepted the reality of his condition, he wouldn’t even begin to get better. 

“In my opinion,” he said, tone grim, “I would take him to see someone professional, someone who can be trusted. Find someone who specializes in these types of disorders, and run a background check on them through the JLA if you have to. Joseph is still a Titan, and I trust you won’t take that lightly. As certain as I am of my diagnosis, you’ll still need to get an official one from a doctor before you can help him get any treatment. That will take time, they don’t like to jump the gun on these things. From there they can decide how to treat him.”

No one said anything. The Titans continued to wait for Robin to take the lead, and he was still at a loss. This was not how he wanted things to go, but with Mento’s insight, he couldn't deny it. Joseph was absolutely beyond their help. 

“Thank you,” he said finally. “I think that might be best. We’ll make sure everything’s taken care of.”

“If you need anything else,” the man said, standing up, “let me know. If the doctors want any kind of official documentation from me on what I've found, I can get it to them.”

He walked back to the door, knowing there was nothing more he could do. He turned back on his way out to say one last thing.

“Good luck.”

Robin already knew, they'd need all the luck they could get. 

* * *

It was an uphill battle, for even the simplest of things. Joseph was hard to convince, but knowing that the Titans were still searching for outside explanations kept him from simply running off. However, they still knew they needed to find some specialists, preferably in the city. That was the easy part. Thankfully, the city hospital was very willing to work with them, and Robin made sure the funds were worked out, with a special phone call. 

Like Mento said, it took a week or two of regular sessions with the specialists before they came up with a diagnosis. For better or for worse, they thought the same thing Mento did. From there, they discussed treatment. There were antipsychotics that were supposed to help with the bad dreams and negative thoughts. Joseph was willing to try it, but nothing more. He had a few sessions with the hospital's psychiatrist but then said he didn’t want to do that anymore. Robin wasn’t surprised; Joey had a hard time opening up to strangers, even before all of this. He was friendly, sure, but with the limits of communication and his somewhat reserved personality, it took a while before you could really get to know him. 

Of course, the Titans were all very concerned about Joseph trying to kill himself again, and had initially hoped that maybe he could stay somewhere safe. However, that didn’t go exactly as planned. The hospital couldn’t take him as an inpatient if there was no evidence of him being suicidal. Even though Robin had seen him step off the roof, and both Raven and Mento had looked into his mind and seen his intentions, Joseph (legally an adult) denied that he’d done it on purpose, claiming to have fallen on accident. The staff believed Robin, but the board was against admitting Joey against his wishes, due to potential liability, seeing as he was a somewhat public figure. Unless he was caught doing it again, and it was undeniably on purpose, nothing could be done. It was a huge source of conflict for all of the teens, particularly between Robin and Joseph. 

“Why are you lying?” Robin demanded, as they walked out of the building. “Joey you’re only making things harder-”

_ Stop. _ Joseph signed.  _ I don’t want to argue, I just want to go home. _

“There’s nothing to argue!” Robin protested, throwing his hands up in the air. He realized he was being loud, and lowered his voice to avoid attention. “We both know you’re lying, even the doctors and nurses know you’re lying, so just cut the crap and let us help you.”

_ I don’t want to have to stay here, _ Joseph answered with a frown. His eyes were sharp, and for the first time, Robin could see a hint of fear and pain in them.  _ I don’t want to be locked up and isolated. I thought you didn’t want that either. So, yeah, I’m lying, because I want to stay at the Tower, with you guys. I don’t want to be alone right now, okay? _ He blinked, looking down, but Robin could still see the tears falling.  _ I know it’s hard because you feel like you have to watch me all the time, but… Don’t make me have to go through all this alone. I’ll take the meds, I’ll even go back to the psychiatrist if I have to, I just don’t want to have to stay here. _

“Okay,” Robin answered quietly, after a moment. He reached out, putting a hand on his friend’s back. “Then as long as you don’t try to hurt yourself again, you can stay with us. You can’t go out for missions anymore, at least for a while, but you’re still a Titan, and your home is the Tower. I promise, I don’t want to have to leave you here either.”

For a while, that was enough. A little sympathy and understanding went a long way. Joseph still didn’t believe he was really insane, but he went along with everything anyways. It seemed to be helping him, at first. He stopped having dreams, or at least stopped saying anything about them. Raven never sensed anything off, so for a blissful week or two, Robin started to believe the worst of it was behind them. 

It was a weeknight, not that that mattered much to full-time heroes, but it was at least a quieter night. Nothing was going on out in the city, leaving the Titans to relax at home. It was late, and everyone had gone to bed, but Robin wasn’t tired yet. He decided to check in on Joseph, see if he was awake and if he wanted to hang out a bit.

Since the first incident, someone had always stayed behind whenever they went out to fight crime, and for the last several days it hadn’t been too much of a strain. Robin hoped no villains would notice it and try to take advantage of their weakness, but he also hoped that soon enough Joseph could be trusted to stay behind alone for those brief stretches of time. It was certainly looking that way, as the treatments seemed to be helping. Raven kept tabs, waiting for any signs of distress or other sharp spikes in Joey’s emotions, but he seemed to be doing alright again. None of them had much reason to worry anymore. 

When Robin got to the door labeled ‘Jericho’ he found that it was unlocked. He knew this meant his friend was awake, since Joey didn’t sleep unless the door was locked. Joseph didn’t mind people coming in, it was easier than coming to the door every time someone knocked, since he couldn’t verbally grant permission for someone to enter. Joseph was a somewhat private person, until he got to know someone and trusted them. He trusted his friends, and felt comfortable with them.

When the door opened, Joseph was nowhere to be seen at first. The bedroom light was off, making Robin think, for a moment, that his friend had gone to sleep and left the door unlocked by mistake. As he entered, however, he saw that the bathroom light was on, and the door was partially open. He heard no water running, so he wasn’t sure what was going on. Joseph didn’t leave doors open, no matter what room he was in, nor did he forget to turn out the lights. 

Robin frowned, stepping closer carefully. “Joseph? Are you in here?” There was no response, not a knock on the wall or any other signal that indicated Joseph was there. Maybe he wasn’t, and he just left the light on by mistake. “Is everything okay? If you’re in there, I’m coming in.” 

He proceeded carefully. Normally he would leave but with the way things have been lately, he couldn’t help but worry. He’d rather be a little extra cautious and invade his friend's privacy than walk away if something was wrong. He opened the door slowly, just in case, looking in. He didn’t see Joseph- until he looked down. 

The mute was collapsed on the floor, lying on his side. Robin’s heart jumped into his throat, and he immediately leapt forward, landing on his knees at his friend’s side, rolling him over to face upward. “Joseph! Can you hear me?” 

As he checked for a pulse, reliving the same feeling of watching Joseph jump off the roof, he saw it, and his stomach dropped. A bottle of pills on the counter by the sink, one of the bigger ones with 50-100 pills inside. Without even checking, he knew it was empty. He started to curse under his breath, hoping that Raven was picking up on his distress and would come to see what was wrong right away. For the moment, however, he had to act on his own. Thankfully, he knew what to do. 

He bent down, lifting Joseph up. Joey was dead weight right now, which made it difficult, but Robin managed to prop Joseph up against his chest. He dragged the blonde over to the toilet, lifting them both up. A quick apology came out between his frantic, muttered curses, as he positioned Joey over the bowl before sticking fingers in his mouth and down his throat. 

“Come on…” he mumbled, fear in his voice. 

Finally he triggered the gag reflex and Joseph threw up. Robin held him in place, making sure he didn’t choke. Raven burst through the door, just as Joey stopped vomiting. Robin couldn’t tell if that was all, but hopefully he’d gotten rid of enough of it. 

Raven saw the bottle, snatching it up, eyes wide and face paler than normal. She was frozen with shock, but Robin knew they didn’t have time for that. 

“Raven, can you get us to the hospital?”

Normally, taking two people with her on such a trip, using her powers, might have been too much. However, she’d been preparing for such an occasion, conserving her energy either to heal a large wound or teleport at least one other person to the hospital with her. Despite the improvement, she knew that this day was still a possibility. 

“Hold on.” She morphed into a black shadow, and the form of a bird swept over the two boys before flying through the wall and into the night sky, headed as quickly as possible towards the hospital. 

The hospital was quiet. It was a weeknight, after all, and there wasn’t much to attend to. Even the ER was relatively calm. Until an inky shadow soared in, landing on the floor and melting away to reveal two Titans with a third propped up between them. 

“Help him!” Robin called out to the night-shift nurses, still standing frozen with surprise. 

They rushed into action, as a team. One snagged the nearest gurney, two others came to help lift Joseph onto it. Raven still had the empty bottle in her hand, discreetly passing it over. One nurse took it, nodding with understanding, and they rushed off, through some double doors. “You have to wait here,” the nurse manning the desk said as the two moved to follow. “I’m sorry, but you have to wait here.”

They listened, stopping and staring through the windows until their friend was out of sight. The room was silent, those who were already waiting here staring with their mouths open, confused and slightly alarmed. It wasn’t obvious to any of them what had happened, only to the staff that already knew of the situation. Surely the civilians present were curious about what was going on, but Robin was already planning ahead. They’d kept everything relatively quiet, the true story never getting out. Robin didn’t want anyone to know what was really going on, not yet at least. They owed Joseph as much of his privacy as they could get him. 

The people here would assume that he’d been hurt somehow, and that would work. It might seem suspicious, since there had been no crime in the city tonight, but thankfully the Titans worked outside of Jump as well, so they could say that they were on a mission elsewhere. Glancing around the room, Robin saw a few on their phones, already spreading the news on social media. By morning, it would be a full-blown story. 

Robin took out his communicator, typing a quick message to Raven. Thankfully, she was carrying hers as well, and was able to read and respond. 

_ Did anyone see you hand over the bottle? _

_ I don’t think so, _ she typed back.  _ They might have gotten a few pictures, but I doubt any of them were quick enough to get anything but him getting wheeled through the doors.  _

It was good enough for Robin. If anyone had picked up on that, the rumors would certainly start flying. It would be a clear case of OD, and that would look pretty bad no matter why anyone thought it happened. From addiction to suicide, no story would paint Joseph in a very positive light. Even if it  _ was  _ the truth, Robin didn’t want it getting out. 

“I’m going to step outside and call the others, let them know where we’re at,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Let me know if you hear any news.”

Raven nodded, moving to take a seat away from everyone else to rest a bit. Robin waited until he was outside, and made sure no one else was around, before calling the other three to let them know what was going on. They all wanted to come immediately to see their friend, but Robin thought that they should wait until tomorrow to visit him, since he might need a full night’s rest to recover. Cyborg did, however, volunteer to drive down in the T-car to pick them up and take them back, with Robin agreed to. No need to make Raven expend that much energy again so soon. 

He looked up at the sky after the call was over, not wanting to go back in yet. The stars were a lot more visible here than in Gotham, which he always liked, but right now there were too many negative thoughts in his head. He couldn’t get the images of Joseph lying on the floor unconscious, or falling through the air to the ground, out from behind his eyelids. Why was this happening? What did Joseph ever do to deserve all of this? 

Nothing. He did nothing to deserve it. He’d been dealt one bad hand after another. Then again, so had most of the Titans, but this was a particularly low blow. His mental health was rapidly deteriorating, and it threatened to drag down his physical health with it. It pained Robin, very deeply, thinking about how this was all spiraling downwards whether they liked it or not. He suddenly realized that Joseph wouldn’t be walking out of this building again, not for a while, and it hit him like a punch to the gut. He remembered vividly how much Joseph hadn’t wanted to be stuck here, but what else could they do?

Robin sat on a bench, looking down at his clasped hands. He tried to make some sense of the turmoil in his head and in his heart, but he just couldn’t. He stayed out there until Raven stood silently by his side. 

“He’s okay,” she said softly, after a beat of silence. “I mean… They got it out of his system and he’s not in danger of dying. He’s… not okay.”

“I know…” Robin admitted, barely audible. 

She sat by him, though he still didn’t look up. She seemed to want to ask him something, but it was another moment before she got the courage to. “Robin, why do you feel so guilty? Did you know about this beforehand?”

He shook his head quickly. “No, of course not! No… I feel guilty that we’re leaving him here. They are admitting him as an inpatient now, aren’t they?”

“They are,” she said, “but that’s nothing to feel guilty about. It’s not going to be pleasant for him, that’s for sure, but ultimately it’s what’s best. This is the second time he’s tried to kill himself, even though he’s told us he didn’t want to die. He’s seeing and hearing things that aren’t there, and it’s making him do this. He’s not well, Robin.”

“I know that…” he said, his voice thick. “I just wish he  _ was. _ I wish that none of this was real, or that we could take him back home with us without having to worry about him anymore.”

“We all want that,” Raven said, reaching out and touching his hand. “And someday, I think he will be better enough to come back home, after some actual treatment. I think he’s going to be okay, once he can fully grasp that none of it is real.”

Robin didn’t answer, because some quiet part in the back of his mind still wanted to argue that point. What if it  _ was _ real? At least a little bit of it? None of this made any sense to him and it gave him an eerie feeling all around. He just couldn’t shake the thought that something bad  _ was _ coming. Was he being naïve? Paranoid? Both were possible, but there was no way to know on his own. 

“They’re keeping him sedated for the night, until we can finalize all the details with the staff tomorrow morning,” the empath said, breaking the silence again. “Right now it’s best that we just go home and get some rest ourselves so that we can be prepared for tomorrow.”

Robin nodded, blinking away tears of exhaustion, frustration, and overall hopelessness. “Yeah, you’re right… This is happening whether we’re ready for it or not. We have to do everything we can to help him. He needs the support right now, more than ever.”

He took a deep breath, swallowing his tears for now. He was the leader, the rock. He knew he couldn’t keep himself from showing his emotions all the time, but he’d do his best to keep it together in front of everyone else, especially Joey. Raven didn’t comment any further, whether she sensed his determination or not. Soon enough, the car pulled up, Cyborg’s grim face staring out the windshield. The pair got into the car, Robin casting one last glance back at the building. He promised himself that Joseph would walk back out the doors again and come home with them, very soon. For now, though, all they could do was hope for the best. 

* * *

The next morning, Robin went alone to talk to the chief of medicine at the hospital and work out the details with him. There were still legal hoops to jump through, since this was an abnormal situation, but Robin was thankful that the hospital was being very cooperative. The Titans were well-liked in the city of Jump, most people were very willing to work with them or help them out in sticky situations. After years in Gotham, Robin was extremely grateful to be more liked and appreciated by the community, especially now. 

With Joseph here, it would be easier to treat him, and keep an eye on him around the clock. Robin didn’t want him to feel isolated, but also didn’t want anyone to know what was going on just yet, so Joseph would be in a room by himself, secluded behind a series of locked doors so that only hospital staff and approved visitors could get to him, and no press could sneak in even if they tried. 

Approved visitors included Titans, anyone who carried a communicator. Robin knew there were thousands of knock-offs and toy versions out there, so he showed the chief how to tell if one was real or not. 

“And, in addition to Titans, would any family be allowed to visit?" the man asked. "Assuming he has any next of kin.”

Robin hesitated. “His parents are still alive, but they haven’t spoken in a long time. It’s possible that his mother would come to see him, and that would be fine. I’m just not sure about his father. Personally I don’t think his dad should be anywhere near here, but…” 

Robin chewed on his lip, weighing the options and potential consequences. Slade was bad news, certainly, but Joseph also still couldn’t bring himself to hate the man. If Slade came, would he do any damage? Years ago Robin would be certain that the madman would level the city given the chance, as he’d done nearly that on multiple occasions. Since the time with Trigon, however, Slade had only showed up a handful of times, and apparently had been carrying out contracts as a mercenary, rather than trying to take down the city. If he wanted to visit his son again, what would that entail? Robin thought for a minute before coming to a decision. 

“If his father comes, it’s up to Jericho whether or not he wants to see him. I guess that’d be the case for anyone, but I can’t imagine Jer turning away anyone else who wanted to pay him a visit.”

“Alright, then,” the chief made a note of it in the ever-growing file. “We’re taking this all very seriously, Robin, I hope you know that. We all want to do everything we can to help him, as well as keep him safe and leave you all with as much privacy as we can manage.”

“I appreciate it, we all do.”

“However,” the man turned his computer screen to the teen, showing a tabloid-esque report about what happened last night, with a few grainy pictures from people’s phones. “It’s clear to the public that a Titan is hospitalized, and they will want answers. It’s hospital policy to take no interviews with the press about any patients, but I can’t control everyone, and people are bound to start talking.”

“I’ve already called for a press release later today,” Robin told him. “The story is that he’s become very sick, and that’s all. We won’t tell them what he’s sick with, and if they want to know how long it will last we can just tell them the truth; we don’t know. I’m hoping that it will be enough to keep anyone from prying into your staff too much. We can’t stop them from speculating and I’m sure there will be several unpleasant rumors, but I think it’s the best we can do.”

“Sounds good,” the chief of medicine agreed, making a few more notes. “I’ve already made sure that only the most trusted staff knows the full story. The rest can hear the same story as everyone else.”

Robin nodded. “Thank you. So… Everything is decided, then, right?”

“Yes, that’s everything,” the man said, closing the file and folding his hands on top of it. “With the private line that’s been set up we’ll be able to contact you if anything changes or comes up. As before, there are limits to what we can and can’t do, based on what he agrees to, but he’ll stay here until we’re absolutely sure he won’t try to take his own life again.”

“Can I go see him?”

“I was hoping you would,” the man smiled grimly. “He ought to be waking up in the next hour or so, and someone needs to tell him everything we’ve discussed. It will be better coming from a friend.”

“I know,” Robin said, though he wasn’t looking forward to it. The same guilt he felt last night wouldn’t go away, and he didn’t really want to confront Joseph after his attempt to kill himself a second time. Last time seemed like a walk in the park compared to this. 

They walked to an older, less used wing of the hospital, going through multiple doors that required the chief's badge to get through, to a hallway with only one occupied room. Robin noted that it was a bit darker back here, as not all the lights really needed to be on. The room looked just the same as every other patient’s room in the building, having a window with the shades drawn, and a door with another small window in it to peek in. Inside, there was only one bed, with a set of curtains that could be drawn around it for extra privacy, and a third window that looked outside, also with the shades drawn. There was an old TV, chairs to sit in, and a bathroom as well. 

Joseph was lying in bed, wearing a hospital scrubs, hooked up to a few monitors and an IV. He looked as calm as he had on the bathroom floor last night, completely at peace. Robin was glad to see that some color had returned to his cheeks, but he frowned at the Velcro restraints on his wrists. 

“Is that really necessary?” he asked, feeling a slight defensiveness creeping up on him. He tried not to let it show in his tone.

The doctor looked a bit surprised. “Of course. For now, at least. We weren’t sure how the sedatives would work with his physiology, so it was just in case he woke up earlier than expected. He’s on suicide watch, if you recall.”

Robin still didn’t like it, but he couldn’t argue. “I understand. Can we take them off now, though? He won’t be able to sign like that.”

The doctor hesitated, but nodded. “For now. We can see how he does for a while, but we’re trying to err on the side of caution.”

“I appreciate it,” Robin said. He really didn’t like any of this, but he knew it was for the best. The doctor left so that they could talk privately, and Robin took a seat by the bed, undoing the straps right away. As he sat and waited, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of _déjà vu_ , not to mention the dread. 

Time passed quietly; Robin had no clock to check so he couldn’t be sure how long it was. That strange paradoxical feeling of not having enough time yet having too much came back to him as well. It was dim in the room, and incredibly silent. It made Robin’s frown deepen, knowing that Joseph didn’t care for the quiet or the dark. Decisively, Robin got up to open the blinds, and open the window itself a bit to let in the sounds of the city outside. It was warm out today, and there was a nice breeze, as well as the faint smell of the ocean. That made the room a little less gloomy. 

He sat back down, fidgeting while he waited, trying to decide how best to say everything that needed to be said. No matter how he thought it over, there was no nice way to tell Joey that he was too unstable to leave this isolated hospital room. It was the blonde’s worst fears all come true. 

Eventually Robin ran out of time to think when Joseph did start to stir. The _déjà vu_ became even stronger, watching him slowly start to wake up again. Eyelids twitching, fingers curling. This time, however, the sedatives were heavier, so it seemed to be making him more groggy. His eyes opened but it didn’t seem that he was quite seeing anything yet. Tentatively, Robin reached out to take his hand, trying to offer something familiar in the otherwise foreign environment. 

“Joseph…” he said softly. “Joey…” He wanted to ask his friend how he was doing, if he was feeling alright, but he realized that it would be stupid to ask that now. Instead he patiently waited for the blonde to become more aware. 

Gradually, green eyes focused, as Joseph woke up all the way. Yet, they still remained a bit dull and lifeless. He didn’t look up, only staring off into the distance, looking sad and empty. They sat in silence for a little while, Robin too tense to break it at first. It was obvious what was going on; he didn’t need to tell Joseph what was happening, the blonde was more than smart enough to understand on his own. Yet, Robin knew he still deserved some explanation. 

“Joseph...Will you talk to me? We have to talk,” he said gently. 

Joey sighed, shifting to push himself up, and sitting cross-legged. He moved slowly, not in any rush. He put his elbows on his knees and then put his face into his hands, letting out a heavy breath. Robin didn’t push him, patiently waiting. This was harder on Joseph than it was anyone else, and he tried to keep that in mind. Eventually his friend looked up again, to sign one word. 

_ Sorry. _

Robin was stunned, seeing that Joseph had the exact same look in his face as he had when he signed the same thing while he was stepping off the roof. The Teen Wonder didn’t need to be an empath like Raven to tell that Joseph was absolutely wrought with guilt and sorrow. 

“Don’t cry,” he said softly, taking off one glove and reaching out to brush away tears. “It’s going to be okay…” 

_ No, it’s not… _ Joseph signed, beginning to sob silently.  _ Something awful is happening and I don’t know what to do.  _

“Hey, listen,” Robin said, shifting closer, “everything is worked out already. You’re going to get better, and nothing bad will happen. All you have to do is try a little. Listen to the people who are trying to help you. And please-  _ please…  _ don’t try that again?” 

Joseph heard the heartbreak in Robin’s voice and it only made him sadder.  _ Oh God… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for you to find me like that- I could hear you. I remember bits of everything last night, I didn’t mean… _

“Please,” Robin said again, practically begging, tears lining his own eyes, “don’t do that again… Please, Joey, you can’t do that anymore. If you do that here they’ll put on restraints and sedate you and I don’t want to see that happen so just-  _ please. _ ” He reached out, grabbing his friend’s hand again, wanting to cement this into Joseph’s head, hoping that if he said please enough that Joey really would stop. “Don’t do it again… If you don’t and you get better then you can come home again. I want you to come back to the Tower so I need you to stop trying to hurt yourself.”

Joey moved over, gesturing for Robin to sit on the bed next to him, which the younger teen did. They were quiet for a minute, the very air seeming to weigh down on them both. Robin was troubled that the blonde wasn’t answering his plea, but he wasn’t sure he could believe it even if he did. 

_ I’m not suicidal, Robin. _

Robin glared, feeling extremely hurt and betrayed. “Why do you have to lie about everything? You’re in denial about this whole mess! You tried it twice; I watched you almost die  _ twice! _ ”

_ I know, _ Joey put his hands up in a slightly defensive gesture, signaling for Robin to hear him out.  _ I’ve tried to kill myself twice, but I still don’t  _ **_want_ ** _ to die. I’m just really afraid of what might happen if I don’t. _

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Robin said, feeling desperate. “I promise, we won’t let anything happen. Even if it is Trigon again, we beat him once, didn’t we?” He wanted to reassure Joey, however he could, if only to get him to stop trying to commit suicide. “If we beat Trigon we can beat anything. The Brotherhood of Evil, HIVE,  _ anything. _ All you need to do is not kill yourself. That’s all, please, just focus on getting better. The next time you feel like you have to do that, remember that we’re here for you, okay?”

Joseph leaned against him, like on the roof, but didn’t respond. Robin could feel him crying, so he just waited, holding back tears of his own. It wasn’t often that he got so emotional, but with Joseph, anyone could let their guard down. Everyone felt a bond with the mute, almost instantly, it was just the type of person he was. They were all very upset that this was happening to him, and Robin knew that they’d all be devastated if he actually succeeded at any attempt at his own life. 

“It scares me that you’re not saying anything to me,” he said very quietly after a little while. “Even if you’re lying I wish you would tell me you won’t do it again.”

There was still no response, and the silence wore on Robin’s nerves, making him incrementally more uncomfortable and afraid. 

“You’re scaring me… I really wish that by saying please enough times I could know you wouldn’t do it but that’s not enough. Please, Joseph I don’t want to lose you. I’ve lost too many people already. Please… I’ll do anything if it means you won’t try that again.”

Joseph didn’t speak, but he wound his fingers with Robin’s, squeezing his hand. He didn’t look up, or sign. Just that small sign of comfort, and it still felt so empty to Robin. 

“I’m really mad at you, you know,” Robin continued, needing to fill the silence, desperate for some confirmation that this would all be okay, that his friend wasn’t just giving up. “I told you we were going to talk to Raven and figure this out, and you still stepped off. We’ve been trying everything we can, and I promised I wouldn’t leave you here if you didn’t try it again but you still did.”

…

“I’m trying  _ so hard _ , but I don’t know what else to do! I have to go back out the door and walk away and leave you here!” Tears started to fall past his mask, but he made no attempt to wipe them away. “I have to go back home, and I have to pretend I’m not freaking out about this because I know that if I freak out everyone else will too and I’ve been  _ trying _ to help you, but  _ you  _ won’t even try! What am I supposed to do?”

…

“I’m going to have to just go about my life, constantly worrying if you’re in this room, dying while no one is here to help you. Is that what you want?”

…

“I’ll never forgive you if you die. Never. I won’t forgive myself either.”

…

“Joey, please, just say some-”

He was cut off, not by a response, but by a high-pitched jingle. His communicator was going off, alerting him to some kind of trouble. He took it out, looking at the screen, dreading the idea of leaving. Well, truthfully, dreading the idea that when he got back this bed would be empty. 

_ Go, _ Joseph gestured, pulling away. Slowly, Robin got to his feet. 

“I can stay… It’s not anything big.”

Joseph finally met his gaze, bittersweet.  _ They need you. Go ahead, I’ll be here. _

Robin hated those words. He hated to leave, he hated that his friend had to stay here, all alone. He hated that he felt so afraid for Joey’s life. He hated everything about this. 

“I’ll be back,” he promised. “We’ll all come to visit you, all the time. Can I bring you anything?”

_ Books would be nice. Whatever you can find. _

“Your guitar?”

The blonde gave a half-hearted shrug.  _ I’m not really in the mood to play these days… _

That wasn’t a comforting sentence. “Well… I’ll bring it in case you change your mind.”

_ Thanks… _

While the gratitude was sincere, it didn’t lighten the mood very much. Robin’s communicator beeped again, prompting him to answer it. 

“Yeah?”

“ _ Robin, are you coming or…?” _ Beast Boy asked. The two teens in the hospital room exchanged one last look, sharing thoughts without speaking. Robin took a deep breath, feeling like the weight of the world was settling on his shoulders. 

“Yeah, I’m on my way. I’ll meet you guys there.”

It was too painful to say goodbye, so they both chose not to. Robin walked out, trying not to look back at the bleak setting behind him, or the pained look he knew would be on Joseph’s face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if anyone will figure out what's happening? It's cheating if you go to my fanfic page and read the whole thing there, by the way. I'm kind of trying to go for a bit of a mystery here, so hopefully at this point in the story you're feeling uncertain about what's going on. Anyways, I'll see you next week!
> 
> Here's another link to the song: [My Demons by Starset.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkll0StZJLA)


	3. Last Ray of Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joseph is hospitalized, and it doesn't look like anything's going to get better any time soon. Nothing is helping him; the Titans can't figure out a way to snap him out of it. Who could possibly shed some new light on the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting a little earlier in the day, things are busy. I think this might be my favorite chapter of this work. At least, it's got my favorite scene in it. Can you guess what it is?
> 
> This chapter's song is [Last Ray of Light.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXiuWRoJDfA&ab_channel=starsetonlinestarsetonlineOfficialArtistChannel) It was released by a music label called Immediate Music, and I believe the composer's name is Aleksander Dimitrijevic. I'll come back and edit this information if it turns out I'm wrong.

Time passed, but not for Joseph. Every single day was more or less the same, really. He was almost as isolated as he had been on that mountain in Tibet. Only this time, he was surrounded by a blank, sterile hospital room rather than fields of grass and flowers. Even the view out the window from his bed was bleak, as he could only see part of the sky and neighboring buildings. 

He was, of course, allowed to get up and move around the room, but he wasn’t permitted to leave. Under different circumstances, were he a normal patient, he’d be allowed to stretch his legs, walking through the halls, perhaps down to the cafeteria. Unfortunately, he was a Titan, and they were still trying to stay secretive about what was keeping him here. To the public, he had some awful debilitating sickness, so it wouldn’t be very convincing if he was just walking around, looking perfectly healthy. People would no doubt start asking him questions, ones that he couldn’t answer. He didn’t really want anyone to know the truth either. 

After all, his own friends didn’t understand what he was going through, let alone complete strangers. He wasn’t suicidal, not really. He was just afraid. Afraid of something that was still a complete mystery to him. Despite all the tests they had run, all the scans and samples, there was still no physical answer for why this was happening. It reminded him just a bit of the first half of  _ The Exorcist _ , with tests being run, constantly psychoanalyzed by different experts. Except, unlike the movie, there was no demonic possession, according to Raven, and she ought to know. 

To everyone else, he was just going crazy, but he just couldn’t accept that. Not even Raven had any other ideas, at least none she believed to be possible. And Robin, who’d grown to be one of Joseph’s closest friends, didn’t seem to think there was any other answer either. 

People came and went, multiple times a day. Nurses mostly, a few times a week maybe a doctor. At first, he saw more people, more often. Obviously the staff was checking in frequently out of fear he’d try to off himself again, but as long as it meant they didn’t restrain him, that was alright. He didn’t want to try it again. At least, not yet. He kept hoping that someone would finally figure out what was really wrong and help him. He didn’t want to die. Even when he’d tried to kill himself, both times it’d taken hours of working up the courage, and very many shed tears. 

Joseph didn’t want to die, but in the back of his mind he knew he’d have to, if no one figured out the truth fast enough. 

In those early days of frequent visits, all of the Titans came by, as often as they could. They couldn’t come all at once, though, so they took turns. They all brought him things, stuff that very much reminded him of each of them individually. Larger books from Raven, all her favorites. Comics and games from Beast Boy. Cyborg snuck in food he’d cooked himself, from brownies and cookies to leftover BBQ. Starfire brought a friendship necklace, and even a poem she’d written; she’d been trying to rewrite her native poetry for her friends, translating and abridging it a little bit. 

And of course, Robin did come back with the guitar, as well as Joseph’s music player and a sketchbook and pens. Things that normally Joey would be very happy to have again, but he just didn’t feel like playing or drawing anymore. He listened to music, but only to cancel out the silence. 

The Titans gradually visited less and less, because even when they were there, their friend didn’t speak to them very much. Only short, minimal signs, but mostly he just felt too sad to talk to them. He felt a need to push them away, knowing it would all be easier if they just stopped caring. Then they wouldn’t be so sad when he died. Unfortunately, he still really didn’t want to be alone, so as they came less and less, he got more and more sad, feeling lonely and empty. 

The visit that really tore him up was from his mother, Adeline Kane. He hadn’t seen her since she left him in Tibet, wanting to hide him from his father. They’d stayed in touch, just a bit, but their relationship felt strained to him. He didn’t really want to admit it, but he didn’t even want to see her that much now, though he knew he should so he gave the staff permission to bring her up. 

“Joey,” she said, coming into the room. Her voice sounded… different to him. He didn’t look up, as she sat by the bed, reaching out to grab his hands in her own. “Joey, sweetheart, I heard you got sick. I contacted the Titans and they told me what’s happening.”

She sounded sad, but it was still different somehow. It wasn’t the same sadness she’d had when he lost his voice. Why did it sound different now? He didn’t respond to her. 

“Joseph,” she reached out, cupping his cheek, trying to catch his eye. He felt flooded with guilt again, tears welling up in his eyes, so he turned away. “Joey… Talk to me, tell me what’s wrong.”

There was a tiny spark in his chest. Perhaps his mother would believe him. That’s what moms did, right? He turned to her slightly, though he kept his gaze down. 

_ I don’t know what’s wrong… I keep seeing bad things… Something evil is coming and it’s going to be all my fault and I don’t know how to stop it… _

He rested his hands back with hers on his lap. Tears fell, and she reached up to his face again to wipe them away.

“It’s okay, sweetheart…” she said softly. “Nothing bad is coming. It’s not real.”

Her words cut into his heart like a knife. She didn’t believe him either. This time, though, instead of arguing and trying to convince her, he said nothing. Joseph was tired of trying to get people to believe him. It was easier to just stop talking, so that’s what he did. 

Adeline continued trying to talk to him, saying comforting things, but he’d turned away again, and nothing she said or did got another response out of him. Eventually she just sighed, standing up and leaving without so much as a goodbye. He realized why she was different, this time. At least, he had an idea. 

His mother, like all of his friends, didn’t really see  _ him  _ anymore. The Joseph that they knew was already gone, as far as they could tell. When they spoke to him, they didn’t think they were speaking to anything more than a medicated, hollow shell of a boy. As far as they knew he didn’t even hear them anymore. As far as they knew, he was just crazy, his mind completely gone. He could settle for that. Maybe that’s what it would take to keep them away, and keep them from feeling too sad if he really did die. 

He felt so  _ profoundly  _ empty.

He stopped eating, just out of pure lethargy, but of course they just changed up his IV to make sure he got all the nutrients he really needed. There were threats of feeding him through a tube, but no one followed through on that. He slept a lot more, for lack of anything to do. At least, a lack of desire to do anything. And then one day, it finally happened. 

No one came to visit. 

The nursing staff all told him, multiple times, that there’d been some huge disaster in the city. He didn’t listen to the details. They assured him over and over that it’d been so big, it kept them from being able to come. It didn’t matter, though. He felt just as empty as the day before, so it made no difference to him. 

That was the night he had another vision, while he slept. He dreamt that he was suspended in the air, unable to move, and all he could see was red. There was a looming shadow, but he sensed it more than he saw it. A gravelly, demonic voice spoke, in a low tone, yet it was booming. It surrounded him like the red, and loomed over him like the shadow it came from. The words it spoke were forgotten as soon as he heard them, but their intent was the same. 

Evil was on its way, and it was using him to get here. 

Joseph woke with a start, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. His heart was pounding, feeling like it would burst right out of his chest. The light outside his room had turned on, and a nurse whose name he didn’t know came in. For a moment he wondered how she knew to come check on him, before he remembered the heart monitor he still had to be hooked up to at night. 

“J-” she stumbled over his name, not knowing what to call him. She was fairly new, only trusted to cover a few night shifts because one of the other nurses had recently got married and went on his honeymoon. The young girl swallowed. “Are you alright? Did you just have a bad dream?”

He nodded, catching his breath, trying to stop shaking. His mind was racing, and fear was flooding into his mind. Any doubts he might have been developing were gone. It was still real, and it was still coming, sometime in the near future. 

“Do you need some kind of sleep aid?” she asked, stepping into the room a bit tentatively. He grabbed the notepad and pen by his desk, scribbling a quick note. 

_ Can I take a quick shower? I’m covered in sweat and I need a minute to relax again. I don’t want to take more drugs than I have to. _

She chewed on her lip, considering it. Even during the daytime it was a hassle to get them to agree to let him take an actual shower, as opposed to a sponge bath. The IV had to come out and be put back, plus the staff was still nervous about leaving him unattended to so much. It was annoying at best and downright infuriating at worst. 

“Well…”

He flipped back to one of the first pages.  _ Please. _

“Alright, a really quick one. I’ll be back in thirty minutes exactly, whether the water’s still running or not,” she warned, coming over to carefully remove the IV and turn off the monitor. “I probably shouldn’t be doing this but they didn’t tell me specifically not to, so as long as you behave yourself I shouldn’t get into too much trouble.”

_ Thank you. _ He really hoped she didn’t get in trouble, though he felt a growing sense of guilt. 

She double checked the bathroom for anything dangerous one last time before leaving to give him some privacy. He went into the bathroom, taking off his dirty scrubs and getting into the small shower, rinsing off and inwardly at war with himself about what to do. He took no more than a few minutes, knowing that if he did anything, it’d have to be fast. He dried off absentmindedly, putting on some clean clothes and going back into his room. All the lights were still off except out in the hallway, where the nurse was probably waiting. 

Joseph wanted very much to crawl back into bed and go to sleep, forgetting about his dream. He wanted that more than anything, but he was too terrified. How long before it was too late? He kept seeing flashes behind his eyelids, the images of his worst nightmares. Fire and destruction, everywhere, everything was so much in ruin that nothing was recognizable anymore. Everyone he knew and cared about, laying in the streets, dead. More than dead, completely mutilated. They were going to die a horrific death if he didn’t stop this, whether they believed it or not.

His heart was still pounding, and he found it hard to breathe, as he stared blankly at his bed, wishing he could just climb back in. What could he even do? This room was made to be suicide-proof anyway, there was no way he could ever possibly-

An idea popped into his head and he instantly wished that it hadn’t. He looked at the sheets, then at the bedside clock, and back again. There was no time to think, it was now or never. He had to save them, and this was the only way. 

Third time’s the charm.

He worked quickly and quietly, tying the thin sheets in a knot without having to tear them in any way. He used a chair to reach the ceiling, finding a support beam just above the tiles inside the roof that would work. As he stood on the chair, he debated, but decided that kicking it would make too much noise, so he moved it far out of the way. He climbed up on the bed, standing at the end, the tied-off sheet in his hands. He stood for a few seconds, squeezing his eyes shut, wanting more than anything to think of another way out of this. Despite what everyone said, he couldn’t think of anything. Yet, he was still too afraid, until he heard that voice again. 

_ Soon, little one, you will help me bring this world to its knees again. _

His breaths caught harshly in his chest, half out of fear and half because he was sobbing. He had less than ten minutes left. Now or never. 

Joseph secured the noose around his neck, eyes shut tight, praying that it would end quickly. He took one last breath before stepping forward off the edge of the bed, his bare feet swinging like a pendulum over the floor. 

* * *

Things were falling into a distressing pattern, to say the least. Once more, Joseph woke up in a hospital bed, strapped down, with people fussing over him. He hadn’t been fast enough. Part of him was relieved, but most of him was just disappointed. Every time he found himself unexpectedly still alive, he felt that he’d failed to protect his friends. He was always filled with dread, knowing that he’d have to try again eventually. As much as he didn’t want to die, he did sort of wish he actually  _ would _ one of these times, so that it would be over with. 

This time around it reminded him way too much of his first visit to a hospital, about ten years ago. His neck was hurting, and there were a lot of drugs in his system that kept him drowsy. He kept dreaming that it really was that first time, and that his mother came in, crying, telling him that she’d shot his father. He dreamt that he kept trying to scream but no sound would come out. It seemed that he cried a lot but he didn’t know if that was real, because he couldn’t reach up to touch his face. 

A feeling was creeping up on him, something he hadn’t felt before. Being stuck here, medicated, immobile and isolated… 

Joseph was starting to  _ want  _ to die.

When the chief of medicine came to tell him that his friends wanted to come in and see him, he shook his head. He didn’t want to see them anymore, it just made everything harder. The man tried to get him to change his mind, but didn’t force it, thankfully. Joseph was sure that the Titans were hurt and upset, but he really couldn’t handle seeing them right now. Not so soon after a third failed attempt at his life. How pathetic was that?

It was hard to tell how much time was passing. He was partially sedated much of the time, with painkillers on top of that. Just as well, he liked the peaceful rest it gave him, with no demons haunting his dreams. He felt like he hadn’t gotten any proper rest in months. He let himself hope, just a little, that he could sleep this whole mess away. That he’d wake up and whatever evil resided in him would be gone, and he could go back home. It was a nice thought. He’d even settle for slipping into a coma, never waking up, never having to make the choice to take his own life again...

“Joseph,” the chief came in one day, his voice pulling the teen out of the drowsy state he stayed in.

It’d been awhile since he was last asked if he wanted to see anyone, but that was the only reason the doctor ever came in anymore, so Joey knew that’s what this was. He looked up, somewhat groggily, but allowing himself to wake up for once rather than trying to get back to sleep like he usually did. 

“There’s someone new here to see you,” the man said carefully.

Joey shook his head lightly, feeling that his neck was still bruised. He assumed that it must be some honorary Titans; a few of them he considered friends and who might want to visit him if they heard the news. The Herald was most likely. Possibly Titans East, or maybe even Kole. He felt a bit bad turning away people who hadn’t even had a chance to see him once, but he just didn’t want to see anyone right now. Maybe if he felt up to it in a few weeks or-

“It’s not a Titan,” the doctor continued, which confused Joseph. No one else was allowed to see him, except blood relatives, and his mother had already come and gone, never attempting to see him again. Who else-? “He says he’s your father.”

Joseph was definitely awake now, hearing that. He looked up at the doctor, trying to decide if he was being serious or not. Surely it wasn’t his  _ actual _ father, just a stranger pretending so that he could get in the room. Obviously the doctor had the same thought. 

“I would have dismissed it, but he asked for you by name, like your mother,” the chief of medicine continued. “Joseph Wilson, not Jericho. He gave me this, to show to you so that you could confirm it.”

He held out a driver's license for Joey to see, for Slade J. Wilson. The man in the picture was definitely Joseph’s father, though the teen had a hard time believing what he was seeing. His father hadn’t even come to visit him in the hospital when he was younger; granted, his mother seemed to have forced him away by shooting his eye out, but nonetheless he never came. Why would he come now? They hadn’t seen each other in years. 

“I take it from the look on your face that it is him,” the doctor said, taking the card back. “When you were first admitted here, Robin thought there was a chance your father might come, and while he seemed uncertain about letting him come see you, he told me that the choice was up to you. If you want to see him, you can. If you don’t, then we’ll send him away.”

Joseph stared straight ahead, thinking. He didn’t feel the same guilt as he did when considering seeing his friends. Mostly he was just shocked, and curious. He kind of wanted to know why Slade had showed up like this. Was he planning something?  _ No, the real question is… _

“Shall I send him up?” Joseph found himself nodding absentmindedly. The doctor left, instructing him to press the call button if he wanted Slade gone, but Joseph’s mind was wrapped around one thought. 

_...does he know what’s happening to me? _

There were too many questions to be answered, and for the first time since he hung himself, Joey’s mind was racing. His hands twitched, as he felt the urge to fidget out of nervousness. Of course, he was still restrained, and he felt a slight pang of shame at that. What a sight he must be. His father hadn’t seen him in person in years, and this was how he looked, strapped down in a hospital bed. Well, it didn’t really matter, he couldn’t change anything. He’d done this to himself, really, losing the trust of the staff and his friends. He waited in silence, forcing himself not to watch the door. He was reminded of waiting for Slade to come home, back when he was little and they all actually lived in the same house. Oftentimes the man was later than he intended to be, but that didn’t stop Joey from sitting at the front window, watching and waiting with excitement. 

It felt like an eternity ago, now. How simple life had been back then. 

He saw shadows pass by the closed blinds of the big window, and he sucked in a breath, glancing away from the door. Fleetingly, he felt the fear of being disappointed, though he didn’t know how he could possibly be disappointed now. A wild thought occurred to him, that the man was an imposter after all, or perhaps Slade was only here to do something terrible. There was only a second to think these things, however, because just then the door opened, and he couldn’t stop his gaze from snapping back to it, impatient to have every question answered. 

The father and son both stared at each other, completely silent and still for nearly a whole minute. Neither knew what to say, or how to react. Joseph was holding his breath, feeling hopeful. What he was hopeful for, he didn’t know, but somehow seeing his father again stirred something in his subconscious. His father was still a protective figure to part of his mind. The part that was frightened, the part that wanted someone to finally help him. That part was very dominant these days. Despite the fact that Slade had let him down so badly, he couldn’t help but have some childish hope that the man could still save him from this nameless evil. 

The moment was different for Slade. Instead of feeling hope he felt dread. Joseph certainly didn’t look good. Of course, having only heard as much as the general public, he looked better than the man expected, but that was only because Slade tended to think the worst. He couldn’t even begin to guess what he was looking at. Joseph was very pale and thin, making him  _ look _ somewhat sickly. That part made sense. What didn’t make sense were the straps restraining him to the bed, or the fading bruises around his neck. 

Finally, the man came into the room and over to the bed. He spoke, his baritone voice soft and slightly hesitant. “They told me not to take off the straps,” he said. “But I think it’s only fair that I do. If I do are you going to try to do anything you shouldn’t?”

The blonde shook his head. Of course he wouldn’t. He wasn’t brave enough to try again so soon, let alone with someone else here. To his mild surprise, Slade did reach down, undoing the cuffs around Joey’s wrists, and the straps across his torso. Since this all started, it felt like no one ever trusted him anymore. While that was fair, given his actions, it still felt nice to have someone take his word on something. Joseph pushed himself up, sitting propped against the pillows. He was still tired, and somewhat weak, but he could sit up to talk. 

“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” Slade asked. It was clear that he had no idea, but Joseph wasn’t surprised. Adeline could contact the Titans to find out the truth, but Slade couldn’t have. He wouldn’t know anything besides the fact that Jericho had been hospitalized. No one would have told him anything else. 

_ I… _ Joseph hesitated, not sure how to tell him.  _ I don’t really know. I’m not sick, but something is wrong. _

He didn’t want to tell Slade the same thing everyone else was saying. He still didn’t believe it was true, and he couldn’t bring himself to sign it. Slade gestured to his neck. 

“Who did this to you?” 

Joseph rubbed the bruised skin slightly, out of discomfort. He took a breath, knowing he had to tell the truth, even though he felt a little guilty admitting it ‘out loud’. He didn’t like that he’d done it, and it was impossible to explain. But, if he lied, it was very likely that Slade would find out the truth anyway, from someone else. 

_ I did it, to myself.  _

Slade frowned, obviously not expecting that. Joseph stared at his lap, feeling bad now. His father had probably come thinking that he was sick and dying. Now that he was here he knew the truth, that the only thing endangering Joseph’s life was Joseph himself. Surely the man now realized what a waste of time it was to come check on him. He would probably get up and leave any second now. 

Instead, to his surprise, the man reached out, touching his face lightly, like his mother had. He didn’t look up, though, because now all of a sudden he was getting teary eyed and didn’t want his father to see. 

“Joseph…” Slade said, concern in his voice. “That’s not like you. What’s going on?” 

Slade really didn’t know what to think. Was this sickness so bad that his son would rather die than have to suffer through it? Or was there something else going on entirely? Slade thought it was more likely the latter, considering the lack of information the Titans were giving to the public, and the fact that almost no one could even see Joseph for themselves. It screamed, ‘We’re hiding something’ to Slade, and possibly to others as well. The whole situation was suspicious. 

For a minute, Joey didn’t answer. When he did, he seemed tense, almost defensive.

_ Do you want to know what everyone else thinks or what I think? _

“Both,” Slade answered decisively. He wanted all the information available, even if it could be wrong. It was clear that Joseph was getting emotional, though, so when he took another minute to answer, Slade didn’t rush him. 

_ They say I’m schizophrenic, _ the blonde started, though he had to write down the exact word, since Slade didn’t recognize the sign. Truthfully, Joseph himself had only learned it after being diagnosed.  _ Because of how my powers work, it makes the people I possess imprint on my brain. Mento thinks that all those extra pieces are just sort of leaking out, and making me see and hear things that aren’t there. _

Slade took this in. While he didn’t credit the Doom Patrol for much, he did think Mento had a valid opinion on such things. Of course, he trusted his son above nearly anyone else on the planet, so he wasn’t convinced yet. He needed more information before he could really decide what he believed. 

“And from your perspective, what’s wrong?”

_ I don’t really know… I AM seeing and hearing things, but I don’t think I’m going crazy. No one really believes me, though. _

That explained why Joseph seemed so distant and guarded. If everyone, including all of his friends, thought he was going crazy and dismissed everything else, it was no wonder he was reluctant to talk about it anymore. 

“Tell me about what you’re seeing.”

_ It’s really only when I’m sleeping, _ Joseph started. He fidgeted for a moment, trying to find the right words to sign.  _ Dad… A few years ago when you worked with Trigon… I was there. _

This was definitely a shock to Slade, and he wondered where it was going. “I didn’t know you remembered that. It seemed like you were in a trance, so I assumed you wouldn’t be aware of what was happening.”

Slade remembered very clearly when he made his contract with Trigon that Joseph had been brought up (both literally and in the conversation). His role was never specified by the demon to Slade, but he hadn’t liked it at all. All Trigon seemed to want was to know if Joey was Slade’s son. Slade was physically unable to lie, so he’d confirmed it, and nothing more was said. He asked why Trigon wanted to know, but Trigon said no harm would come to the boy, as long as Slade fulfilled his role and everything went according to plan. After Slade brought Raven to the designated location, his body and his son were meant to be returned to him. 

Of course, since Raven ended up walking there by herself, Trigon exploited this loophole and refused to give Slade what he was promised. Slade went down (with Robin) to retrieve his proper payment, and got his body back. He hadn’t seen Joseph anywhere at the time, but after it was all over, Slade went to find him to be sure he was alright. Joey had still been in Tibet, where his mother left him, and seemed completely unharmed. After that, Slade decided to leave Jump and go back to his full-time career as a mercenary. 

_ I thought it was a dream, for a while, but now I know it really happened, _ Joseph continued. _ I think this all has something to do with what happened back then, but Raven says it’s impossible. _

Ever since his contract with Trigon, Slade had always considered it a possibility that the demon would find a way to strike again. He hadn’t been destroyed after all, merely banished back to the dimension he’d been trapped in previously. Slade also kept in mind the possibility that Joseph had been more affected than he seemed to be. He never found out exactly what Trigon intended to use the boy for, other than leverage, and Slade wouldn’t put it past the demon to do something unexpected, even underhanded. 

“Raven usually knows the most about Trigon,” Slade admitted, “but she was only taught about him from the perspective of monks who feared him. When the Titans and I fought back, she was extremely reluctant to even try. She believed that it was impossible to defeat him, until we proved to her otherwise. With that in mind, I wouldn’t say anything is impossible, no matter how unlikely.”

Joseph felt a sense of relief and comfort, feeling validated for the first time in a long time. He’d been stuck on the same thought for a while now, but no one else seemed to have thought of it until now.  _ Then you think this might have to do with Trigon? _

“It might,” Slade said. “Tell me exactly what’s been going on.”

Joseph nodded, and began to relate everything to his father, all the visions he’d had, the other attempts at his life, the reactions of his friends and mother, and even the isolation he felt when no one seemed to believe him. Joey told him about what Raven had said, that since he wasn’t part demon it couldn’t be Trigon. It felt good to be listened to again, and taken seriously. All anyone else wanted him to do was accept that he was going insane, take his medicine, and leave it at that. The positive reaction from his father was something amazing at this point. 

_ No one is even looking for any other explanation anymore, _ he signed.  _ But I can’t shake the feeling that this is real, and if no one else is doing anything to help me stop it, then I feel like I have to do something drastic. _ He touched his neck again, feeling a renewed sense of shame and even despair. He looked up, teary-eyed.  _ I’ve never wanted to die, dad. Not for one minute. At least… I didn’t… I’m just so afraid of what’s going to happen, and I don’t know how else to stop it. _

Slade gave his full attention, the entire time, taking in every detail. Even though there were multiple times he wanted to exclaim in frustration at the Titans’ actions, not to mention Adeline’s reaction. He could tell that Joseph wasn’t crazy. Perhaps he  _ would _ be by the time this was over, with the way he’d been treated, but he was obviously very clear-headed, not delusional. It wasn’t as if he were seeing things or hearing voices. Well, he was, but only in dreams, and what was so abnormal about that? There was something more going on, Slade was sure of that.

“I believe you,” he said, reaching out to touch Joey’s hand in a sign of comfort and support. Joseph needed that more than anything. “What I can’t believe is how easily your friends gave up. I’d thought they were better than that. Not to mention your mother; walking in here and acting like you aren’t even yourself anymore. I could very well go to each and every one of them to give them a piece of my mind.”

Joseph shook his head quickly.  _ Don’t go to the Titans, please, dad! They’ll flip their lids and it’ll be a huge mess. _

“I won’t,” Slade said, “I’m going to be too busy to bother going all the way to the Tower.”

_ Busy? _ The blonde raised his eyebrows. 

“Yes, busy trying to figure out what’s going on here,” the man answered. Joey’s eyebrows went up even further. “You may not be part demon, but Trigon still had a hold of you for a while when I was working for him, and it seems to me that’s more than long enough to do  _ something. _ He had a plan for you, I think. Trigon wasn’t one to waste an opportunity. I just have to find out what it was.”

_ But how? It’s not like your contract was written, and even if it was, if he wanted to use me for something, he’d likely keep it a secret anyway. _

“That’s true, but a lack of obvious information never stops me,” the man answered, a slight smirk on his face. “It will take time, and there’s no telling if I can even find the right resources, but I’ll be damned if I give up right away. I’ll keep looking until I find an answer, but you have to do some things for me first.”

_ What do you mean? _ Slade looked at him very seriously, a slight intensity in his eye. It made Joey subconsciously straighten up and lean forward, listening very closely. 

“I’m going to find a way to help you, but it will be for nothing if I come back and you’ve tried to kill yourself again. Promise me you won’t do that, ever again,” he said very sternly. He continued in a slightly softer tone. “Take good care of yourself, eat proper meals, to get yourself off that IV. Be good and listen to the doctors, so that you don’t have to stay strapped to the bed forever. And let your friends come see you again, too. I can’t come back to visit while I spend my time working on this, but you shouldn’t have to be alone. I need you to get better again; let me handle the rest.”

Joseph felt a slight lump in his throat, nodding quickly in agreement. It felt like the huge weight on his shoulders had been lifted away, and he couldn’t help but want to cry again. It was easy to forget, but his father cared about him, a lot. The man had never been good at showing it, but he still did. 

_ I promise I won’t try it again, _ Joseph signed, and he knew that he meant it.  _ Can I ask for something from you too? _

Slade raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “Yes, what is it?”

Joseph looked down at his lap for a moment, feeling a bit silly, but he really needed something right now, and he didn’t know when he’d get another chance for this. He slowly turned, letting his feet dangle over the floor, sitting on the side of the bed. He slid down carefully, hesitating, before standing a bit awkwardly in front of the man. He stared at the ground, feeling a bit bashful and too afraid of rejection to move forward. 

Despite the several years they’d spent apart, Slade still knew his son. He recognized the look on Joseph’s face, and knew exactly what he wanted. Of course, why wouldn’t he? Slade lifted his arms, reaching forward and pulling the boy close. Thin arms wound tightly around his neck, as his son climbed up onto his lap at once, burying his face in the man’s chest as if he were still a small child. Right now, he needed this, that much was obvious. 

This was something that Joseph thought would never happen again; he couldn’t have imagined it until now, and it was still hard to believe it was happening. It was one surprise after another. His father came to see him. His father  _ believed  _ him. His father was going to help him. And now, his father was holding him again. It was all definitely making the teen emotional, but he couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. Slade didn’t seem to mind much, thankfully. 

“It’s going to be alright,” Slade said gently. “It’s going to be okay.”

A part of Slade felt very grateful for this moment. He’d missed having his son in his life, and being able to be there for him. He’d made too many mistakes in the past, and had never had the chance to try and make it right. When he’d heard his son was hospitalized with some mysterious illness, he believed this might be his last chance to see Joseph alive. Being the only one to support him at this time was ridiculous, since there was no reason Addie or the Titans shouldn’t believe him, but Slade was more than willing to take this chance to prove that he did care for his son, despite his past failures. 

They stayed like that for a while, until Joseph started to fall asleep again. Slade put him back in bed, knowing that it was time to go. “I’ll be back, as soon as I have some answers. Remember, be good, and take care of yourself.” He ran his fingers through blonde curls, watching the peaceful face of his youngest son, wondering when the last time Joey felt any peace was. “I have to put these back on, now, but I’ll talk to the chief downstairs and ask that they take them back off soon, alright?”

Joseph stayed perfectly still as Slade re-did all the straps. He knew they had to stay for now, but he felt a lot better about everything, knowing that he wasn’t alone anymore. He gave one last sign, before Slade put the last restraint back on his wrist.

_ Bye, dad. I love you. _

“I love you too,” the man said softly. “I’m going to take care of this. I got you into another mess, but I’m going to fix it before it’s too late this time, I promise.”

Joseph nodded; he trusted his father. He might have been unsure before today, but in this moment, it was as if nothing bad had happened between them. It was nice, and comforting, to have someone to rely on after spending so much time trying to fix this himself. He watched the man leave, a slight smile on his face, before closing his eyes to rest. 

* * *

_ This is all just getting worse and worse, _ Robin thought bitterly, walking out of the sun and into the cool building. He felt an involuntary urge to shiver.  _ If he keeps refusing to see any of us, how can we possibly help him? He’s only going to feel more isolated, and that will make things worse. _

He stepped up to the main desk, which doubled as a nurse’s station, waiting patiently for someone to have a moment to talk to him. 

“Good afternoon,” the head nurse came up to him, nodding in greeting.

“Will you ask Jericho if he’s feeling up to having a visitor today?” he asked carefully. He didn’t know if anyone was listening, but he thought it might be best overall if people assumed that Jericho was just too sick to see anyone, rather than the fact that he was plainly refusing visitors. 

“As a matter of fact,” the woman said, “he’s seeing someone right now.”

Robin was shocked, and confused. None of his team were here right now, they were all still back at the Tower. So far none of the other Titans knew what was going on, either, unless they’d been keeping an eye on the Jump Gazette. “Wait, Adeline came back? I didn’t think she would. When she left she said…” he shook his head. It was too painful to repeat, but at the time she’d seen him, she’d said that ‘that boy’ was not the son she knew, and she didn’t seem to want to see him ever again. Robin found it harsh, of course, but didn’t say anything to her about it. She might just be grieving. 

“It’s not Adeline,” the nurse said. “Your friend’s father came, and Jericho agreed to see him.”

Robin startled, eyes going wide behind his mask. “ _ What? _ ”

“Well, the chief of medicine told me what you’d decided. In fact he was the one to go upstairs to ask if Jericho wanted to see his father at all,” the nurse said, a bit defensive. 

“I-” Robin was at a loss for words.  _ Slade _ was here? After years of giving everyone the slip, being on the JLA’s most wanted list, after everything he’d done, he just waltzed back here like he’d done nothing wrong? And Joseph agreed to see him? None of it sat right with the Titan. “He can’t just-!”

“Can’t just what?” 

Robin almost jumped, turning on his heel to find the very man they’d been discussing standing  _ right there. _ He held his breath, stopping himself from shouting and making a scene, but there was no way he was going to pretend this was all okay. 

“ _ What are you doing here? _ ” he hissed, keeping his voice low. 

“My son is in the hospital, and I came to see him,” Slade said. “He told me some  _ interesting _ things. Shall we discuss this in private?”

“Gladly!” Robin said, throwing his hands up. He looked to the nurse. “Is there an empty room we can borrow?”

She nervously pointed one out, and the two went in, shutting the door behind him. Robin didn’t dare let his guard down, just waiting for Slade to strike. Instead, the man sat down on a chair by an empty bed and gestured for Robin to take the other chair. The teen growled, crossing his arms and remaining on his feet. 

“What makes you think you can just show up like this?” he demanded. 

“Like I said,” Slade said a bit coldly, “my son is hospitalized. I came to see him, and as per  _ your own rules _ , I was allowed to see him because he agreed to it. And thank god I did,” he said harshly, anger evident just below the surface. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Robin said incredulously, baffled that the man could would use such an accusatory tone against  _ him, _ when he should be the one accusing Slade.

“I’m disappointed in you Robin,” Slade answered, without raising his voice. “I would expect you to be able to figure this out before he was driven to a third attempt at suicide. Apparently you aren’t as good a detective as you’d claim to be.”

Robin glared, his temper flaring up. “Excuse me! We’ve figured out what’s wrong, it’s Joseph who doesn’t believe us!”

“Well he shouldn’t. You’re wrong.”

Robin went white with his anger, fingers curled tightly into fists. “ _ Shut up! Just shut the hell up, Slade! _ You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“I know enough,” the man said, his voice still cold, and relatively quiet, yet firm. “I know you’ve given up on finding any more answers because a few people have told you the same thing. They gave you an easy answer, without doing any further research. They all assume they’re right but they’re not. That’s why I’m disappointed in  _ you. _ You stopped looking for clues, stopped doing research. You assume they’re right too.”

“That’s bullshit, Slade,” Robin snarled. “Mento knows what he’s talking about, and so does the staff here. Raven knows Trigon better than anyone.”

“Everything she knows comes from a biased source, Robin,” Slade continued, leaning back in his chair. “As for the hospital staff, they’re only human. They haven’t seen everything you or I have. Mento’s opinion is equally invalid because he hasn’t encountered Trigon either.”

Robin felt almost too angry to speak. He knew  _ why _ he was angry, but that only made him more mad. “You’re wrong! You’re just going to make it worse!”

Slade stayed calm. “You’re mad because you know I’m right, and you  _ hate _ that I’m right. You hate that you haven’t been able to figure this out. You hate that you can’t stop him from trying to kill himself, over and over again.”

By the end, the man’s voice had gotten colder, and he stood up to leave. Robin couldn’t even begin to argue, because Slade  _ was _ right about the way the Teen Wonder was feeling. And Robin  _ did _ hate that Slade knew him so well. 

“You… You’re giving him false hope,” he said, though he sounded as small as he felt. “You’re lying to him and he believes you.”

“It’s not him that believes me,” Slade said sharply. “It’s me who believes him. I shouldn’t be the only one. Use your head, Robin. What was your first instinct when he told you what was happening? What was the first answer you thought of? Sometimes the answers that come first, instinctively, are the right ones. You know in your gut that there’s more to it.”

Robin’s fists clenched at his sides, and he stared at the floor while Slade walked past him to the door. 

“I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” the man promised. “When I have an answer, I’ll be back. In the meantime…”

Slade’s commanding tone prompted Robin to look over his shoulder at him, pursing his lips. 

“No matter what’s wrong with him, he won’t get better without some support. If he says he’s not crazy, you shouldn’t tell him that he’s wrong. You’re supposed to be his friend. Act like it.”

Robin was stunned, but could only stand there with his mouth open as the man disappeared. The teen went out after him, but he was completely gone. Robin let out a growl; he hated to be lectured,  _ especially _ by Slade. Who was he to tell Robin what the right thing to do was? Now Jericho would just be in even more denial and he would get worse and worse…

With a sudden urge to start punching things, Robin turned to leave. He was thinking of getting some training in back at the Tower when the chief of medicine called out to him. 

“Robin, are you leaving?”

He turned back, trying not to appear too unpleasant. “Yeah, I might as well…”

“Well, I saw you when I was walking Mr. Wilson back down, so I went ahead and asked Jericho if he wanted to see you today,” the man said. “I suppose a little visit from his father did him some good, because he said he did. You were right to let your friend decide on his own if he wanted to see his family. Should I tell him you’ll be back later or…?”

Robin was surprised to say the least. “No! No, I’ll come up to see him right now I just didn’t think…”

He trailed off as he followed the doctor upstairs to the blocked off ward. He felt like he’d just stepped into some kind of twilight zone today. Not that the whole situation wasn’t crazy already, but having Slade pop up out of nowhere was unexpected, not to mention the fact that he’d taken Jericho’s side in an instant. Well, at least now Joey was willing to see him again, so it wasn’t all bad. Robin could only hope that Slade’s visit did his son more good than harm in the end…

* * *

Whether it was because of Slade, or something else, things did start to improve after that day. Joey agreed to see any of his friends who came to visit, and he seemed to be doing a lot better. He spoke with them (as much as he was physically able to, with the straps still present) and he had fewer nightmares. 

Robin discussed these changes in-depth with Raven, who (with her powers) had the best read on Joseph. She admitted that he’d started slipping into a more and more depressed state since he’d been admitted, to the point where he might actually become truly suicidal; wanting to die out of misery and not just a delusion. Only now that he was doing better did she realize how bad it’d gotten. 

“I can’t believe I just watched him slip down that far,” she muttered under her breath one day. Loud enough for Robin to hear, which he knew was intentional. She wanted to talk about it, with him, but not the others. The two birds were standing together in the kitchen, while the others watched TV. 

“It’s not your fault,” he told her, not for the first time. “Anyone could get depressed like that, without any warning, sometimes without any reason. He was there on suicide watch already, it’s not like they weren’t already prepared.”

“Yes but it’s not the same,” she insisted, fingers curling around her cup of tea. “It… I felt a little better knowing he didn’t want to die. I thought he would be okay as long as he had that bit of hope. If his desire to live kept overpowering his fears, then he would pull through. Without that desire, there was no more hope for him.”

“It’s okay,” Robin said reassuringly, putting a light hand on her shoulder. “It isn’t your job to-”

“It is!” she hissed. He could suddenly hear a thickness to her voice. “I’m an empath. I can feel people’s feelings, and I should have been paying better attention, but I got lazy because I thought he was safe. He almost died again, even though he was on suicide watch. Saying it’s not my job to use my empathy to keep an eye on my friends is like saying it’s not Cyborg’s job to maintain the Tower’s technology, or your job to train us. I  _ have _ this power, and if I can’t use it to help my friends when they’re suffering then what kind of a Titan am I?”

Her voice never raised loud enough to draw the attention of the others, but Robin could hear the strain in it as she tried to keep from becoming hysterical. A tiny flash of black caused a hairline fracture in her mug, and droplets of water fell from her face onto her hands. He carefully put an arm over her shoulder in comfort, trying to console her without invading too much of her space. 

“Hey…” he said softly. “It’s okay. Don’t be mad at yourself, that doesn’t help anyone. It’s not your fault that this is happening, and no one blames you for not catching it. He’s getting better now, right? Maybe the worst is already over.”

She sniffed slightly, never lifting her head but wiping at her eyes. “You’re right… It just feels so helpless, not being able to do anything for him. I hate that he still refuses to see it as anything but supernatural. How can things get better if we’re not all on the same page?”

Robin chewed on his lip, withdrawing his arm now that Raven seemed a little better. Slade’s firm agreement with Jericho left him a little unsure himself… The young woman beside him seemed to sense his doubt, looking up at him strangely. 

“Do you really think that there’s something like that going on?” she asked. 

“I don’t know…” he said, sighing. “There’s just been this feeling, in my gut, since this all started. Jericho is a very reasonable, rational person. So is Slade, even as terrible a person he is. They’re both usually smart, logical thinkers but they both believe it’s something else. It still seems likely, with all the evidence we have, that it’s just some kind of mental illness. But… I’m not really 100% sure anymore.”

“Is it because of what Slade said?”

“No. Well, maybe a bit, but he was right. I’ve felt like this since the beginning.”

Raven didn’t answer for a little while, fingers tracing the pattern on her cup. Finally, she let out a sigh. 

“Whether he was right or not, what Slade said and did improved Jericho’s mental well being better than anything  _ we’ve  _ been able to do,” she said. “If it helps him, we’ll keep looking for answers, and we’ll give him the support he needs. Slade was right about that. We haven’t been the best friends in this situation.”

“But we can be better friends now,” Robin said. “He’s willing to see us again, and we can’t take that for granted. He seems better, and hopefully it stays that way, but in case it doesn’t…”

Raven nodded. “In case he feels that bad again, we won’t leave him in a position where he feels like we don’t believe him or that we don’t care about him. Never again.”

* * *

Indeed, all five of them quadrupled their efforts to cheer up their friend, visiting him every free moment that they had, making sure he didn’t feel so alone. He responded to them a lot better now as well, no longer seeming so distant. He smiled again, color returning to his complexion, a little bit of the weight he’d lost coming back. 

Within a week, the IV was no longer necessary, and soon neither were the straps that kept him bound to the bed. While he wasn’t  _ entirely _ back to his old self just yet, it was obvious that he was doing a million times better. 

Starfire made up a schedule. They couldn’t all be with him at all times, but if they took turns, he’d always have someone around at least for most of the day, just to keep him company. That way they would still be available to do their jobs, without having to worry too much. Joey appreciated this, because even though he was mute, he was still a fairly social person. Plus, each of his friends always had very different ideas in mind for how to entertain him. 

Robin encouraged Joey to keep active, and they did small exercises and stretching in the room. Usually Robin borrowed techniques from Tai Chi, as it was a martial art that could be done in such a small space that also didn’t exhaust his bedridden friend. Joseph enjoyed having the opportunity to move around a little bit every day, since he still wasn’t allowed to leave the room. 

Raven took the opposite approach, meditating with him every day. While Robin wanted to help Joseph keep up his physical health, she was most concerned about aiding in his mental and emotional health. No matter what it was that was going on in his head, they could both easily agree that it was causing him a great deal of anxiety and stress. Having quiet time was not normally one of his favorite things, but somehow Raven’s mere presence made it  _ feel _ less silent, in a way. She radiated peace and calm out to him, occasionally verbally guiding a specific meditation method. When they weren’t meditating, they simply talked, and it helped Joseph stay relaxed and in good spirits. 

Beast Boy definitely made a huge effort to be as entertaining as possible. He hated being sick in bed, and imagined that Joey didn’t like it either. Every day brought a new activity. Usually video games, sometimes shared comic books, and once or twice he brought a movie to watch together. It was always fun, and interesting to see what new thing BB would surprise him with. 

Star’s visits tended to be even more surprising. From bringing along scrapbook supplies to alien snacks, it was always...colorful. She encouraged Joseph to draw and paint and play music again, and with her bright attitude he always found himself wanting to again. It was nice, just to create. Somewhere along the way, he realized that that was their activity. Starfire brought the things she created, one way or another, and her happiness over her accomplishments always rubbed off on Joey, until they had complied together a very large scrapbook together. With his drawings, and photos she’d taken, it created a vague timeline of Jericho’s time as a Titan. She spoke often about how excited she was to finish it, because she wanted him to have it. Needless to say, he was touched by the gesture, and vowed to think of something to give her in return. 

Lastly, Cyborg was often a little at a loss for what to do on his visits. Joseph and he didn’t have that much in common, and all of Cyborg’s favorite hobbies could only be done in a garage, or outside. At first he just put on the TV, but quickly realized that sports weren’t really Joe’s thing. Not that Joseph complained, ever, but Cyborg knew that he was probably the least fun to hang out with. So, he just started talking, hoping to find some common ground. He noticed right away that Joseph was a good listener, and that helped him open up a bit more. He talked about volunteering at the community center, hanging out with the kids that had prosthetics. Joey expressed interest in doing something similar, with kids that could only sign due to the inability to hear, or speak. Cyborg promised to help him get started someday, and from there they hit their groove. Most days they chatted, some days they read books and magazines together in comfortable silence. After about a week of this, Cyborg felt a lot better about his contribution to Joseph’s recovery. 

Their routine helped the time pass more quickly, and soon enough it was easy to forget there was any problems at all. The slight worry that something was wrong never left them completely, but they all dared hope that their worries would never come true. Before they knew it, Joseph hit the special two-week mark since his last nightmare, and according to his recovery plan, that was the first step to being able to go home. One more professional psychological evaluation to be sure that he was no longer suicidal, a year’s supply of medication that was evidently working, and he would be all set to go back to the Tower. They all agreed that it would be some time before he could be a Titan again, but Robin was certain that they were on track for that as well. No matter what was wrong, with each passing day he was more and more sure that Jericho could still be a Titan. 

* * *

“You’re up early.”

Raven looked up, blinking in confusion. Robin was standing over her where she sat at the couch, a large and old book in her lap. “No...I’m actually up late. I didn’t go to bed last night.”

Robin let out a low whistle, trying to stomp down the slight panic he felt. The last time one of his teammates stayed up all night until sunrise it had  _ not _ ended well. He couldn’t help but be a little on guard. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, I was just reading and lost track of time,” she reassured him, closing the book and standing up. “I’ll get some sleep, wake me when it’s my turn to head down to the hospital.”

“Er, Raven,” Robin said, before she could walk away. “Today’s the day we were going to have the party, so we’re all going this afternoon. The chief of medicine says that Jericho should be home in a week so we’re having a small party there today, and a big one with all the Titans after he’s home. Remember?”

Raven blinked again. That was right. Starfire insisted on celebrating the occasion, ready to pull out all the stops. She wanted to include  _ everyone _ , but was reminded that no one outside of their team knew about why he was hospitalized. After some discussion, Joseph agreed that it would be nice to have a party, and was willing to come clean about being in the hospital, but wanted to be vague about the reason why. The story they would tell all the other Titans (as well as the public) was that he’d been hit with some stray magic, causing him to be so terribly affected that they’d quarantined him in the hospital until he could recover fully. If he chose to tell a select few other Titans the truth, that would be on his terms. 

“Oh,” mumbled Raven. “Right, I forgot all about it.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

She yawned slightly, rubbing one eye. “Yeah, I’m fine, I promise. I just felt like I was close to a possible different answer last night and I couldn’t stop myself from poring over this whole book.”

Robin raised his eyebrows slightly with interest. “Did you find anything new? Maybe I can help?”

She shook her head a little sadly. “No, nothing new. Nothing we haven’t already discussed. I’d let you take a look for yourself but this is written in a demon language. I can barely piece it together, which is part of why it’s taking so long.”

“Well, thank you for looking anyway,” he said. “Go get some sleep. I’m going to go pick up some decorations, I’ll wake you before it’s time to go.”

“Alright,” she agreed, turning away to hide in her room. 

In reality, Raven was starting to get a little worried. Bad omens were starting to pop up here and there. Nothing obvious, or biblical, just small things. So small, in fact, that she was mostly sure that she was just being paranoid. Mostly. Reading her tarot cards or tea leaves, she never saw anything so grim as omens of death and destruction, only signs that things  _ might _ start to take a darker turn in the future. It wasn’t like when Trigon came to Earth, where she had visions of fire or the sun eclipsed or anything like that. No marks of Scath appearing anywhere, nothing like that. 

She put the book away once she was back in her room. It was Azarathian, filled with more obscure information on the occult and demonic. Things like bad omens that were usually missed, or rare phenomena that signaled terrible, demonic events. If Robin wanted to find some secondary answer to what was happening to Joseph, the answer would most likely be in here. Assuming it existed at all. 

However, Raven had read through the whole thing overnight, and nothing stood out to her as anything that might be related to what was happening to Joey. Sure, a few things she’d noticed lately might be construed as signs of something or another, but she also knew nothing was enough to really base an answer on. The more rare things were often just coincidence, like black cats and breaking mirrors. Just because  _ some _ witches had black cats as familiars and  _ some _ bad luck demons could be trapped in mirrors, didn’t mean that every black cat crossing one's path or every broken mirror would cause bad luck. 

Raven was a wary person, being educated on interdimensional magic and half-demon herself, but she wasn’t superstitious. 

Joseph was almost completely cured. It was pointless to drudge up the issue when he was just days away from coming back home. She yawned, stretching and taking off her cloak. She drew the curtains to block out the rising sun and climbed into bed to sleep. 

* * *

It was good to see the bright smile on Joseph’s face again. There was genuine light in his eyes, and it gave Robin a huge sense of relief. No matter what was going on, his friend was happy, and that’s what was important. 

The Titans were pretty noisy, all crowded together into Joey’s hospital room, but they were celebrating. They had lots of food, cake and ice cream, soda, games- everything they could fit into the small space. Starfire made a sign, and they’d all signed a card for him. Of course, this was just a precursor to the  _ real _ party, which would be much bigger. 

“Here, dude,” BB said cheerfully, handing Joseph a kazoo. The blonde took it with a raised eyebrow, and behind their green friend, Raven slapped a palm to her forehead. Robin started laughing, unable to contain himself. 

“Grass stain, you really didn’t think that through,” Cyborg said, rolling his eyes and exchanging Joseph’s kazoo for a party blower instead. 

“What?” Beast Boy said, seeming slightly put out. Starfire, meanwhile, was trying to play her own kazoo, but couldn’t get the hang of it. 

“Friends,” she said with a sigh, “it appears mine might be broken.”

“Nah, Star,” the changeling told her, waving a hand in the air, “you’re just blowing it in it. You’re supposed to hum.” 

He blinked, then went a bit red in the face. Now it was his turn to facepalm. 

“Oh, right.”

“There it is,” Raven said with slight bemusement. Joey and the other boys couldn’t stop laughing at the slight mix-up, tears nearly running down their cheeks. After a moment, Starfire picked up on the joke and giggled, and even BB had to chuckle a little at his mistake.

“Right, I wasn’t thinking,” he said sheepishly. “But hey, I’ll remember now!”

“Yes, because kazoos are something we use so often,” Raven said dryly. 

“We’ll have them for the next party!” Beast Boy protested, throwing his hands up in the air. “And just for that, I vote that we use kazoos for all parties!”

This was met with more friendly laughter, and everyone soon got caught up using their varied noisemakers in a contest to see who could be the loudest. Until Raven started to get annoyed, prompting them all to quickly call it a draw. 

“Speaking of the party,” Robin began, “we still need to plan it. At least, the details. What kind of food do you want?” he asked Joey. 

_ I miss pizza, _ the blonde answered.  _ Actually I miss a lot of real food. The stuff here isn’t bad but it’s not the same. Not even the coffee is very good. _

The Titans leader grinned, making a few mental notes. “Pizza it is, and we’ll work out some other stuff like chips and dip.”

“And you know I’m going to bust out the barbecue on the roof,” Cyborg said. “No party is complete without my specialty ribs.”

“I’ll handle the desserts,” Beast Boy said. “Since none of you appreciate tofu like I do.”

“I have purchased the piñata!” Starfire added, clapping her hands together with excitement. 

Joseph smiled.  _ It sounds great guys, really. I can’t wait to get to see it.  _

“Yeah, dude, you should see the sign Star and I made for  _ that _ party. It’s huge!” Beast Boy flung out his arms again to illustrate. 

“For the record I picked out the music,” Raven said. “Something enjoyable that’s  _ not _ just loud noise.”

“And  _ we’ll _ make sure it’s not boring, emo stuff,” Beast Boy added, making Raven frown. 

“I picked music he’d actually like,” she protested. “Not just dubstep and rave junk.”

“That doesn’t really narrow it down, though,” Cyborg pointed out. “This is Joseph we’re talking about, I’ve never heard of him not liking  _ any _ music.”

Joseph chuckled to himself and Robin grinned and rolled his eyes at them. “Don’t worry,” he said while the others weren’t listening. “I’ll make sure they settle on some stuff that everyone likes.”

_ If Raven is getting involved, then it seems like everyone really is exited for this party, _ Joey smiled softly. 

“We are,” Robin told him. “I hope you are too?”

_ Of course! I seriously can’t wait to get out of here, I’m really excited about everything to do with it, _ Joseph told him, sincerely.  _ It’s nice that they’re all getting together to do two parties like this too. _

“Two parties is nothing,” Robin insisted. “We’re just glad to get  _ you  _ back.”

* * *

Robin was taking the ‘first shift’ the next day, and he decided to get in a little early, with some coffee for the both of them. It reminded him a bit of that morning on the roof, but of course this time was different. He carried the two drinks in a tray, a slight bounce in his step as he breezed through the doors of the front lobby. He was a morning person, after all, and today just felt like a good day. The party yesterday had gone well, and Joseph was getting well again. It made him very relieved that this was all ending. 

The nurses left over from the night shift seemed a bit more haggard than usual, which wasn’t suspicious. Some nights were just rough, after all. He felt a bit bad that he couldn’t just treat them all to coffee or something. In fact, now that he thought of it, he figured that the Titans ought to send something nice to the whole staff for dealing with this mess in the best possible way. There had been no leaks of information, even though he’d expected there to be before the end, and they all made several accommodations in their treatment of Jericho. They’d really gone above and beyond for this, and they definitely deserved to be recognized for it…

Robin was so caught up in his train of thought that he didn’t notice the way the staff reacted to him on his way up to Jericho’s room. They all cringed slightly away from him, avoiding eye contact. What he did notice, once he got to the secluded wing, was a nurse carrying a bundle of sheets and scrubs, all smeared with blood. His heart skipped a beat and his breath caught in his throat. She ducked her head, quickly scurrying away from him before he could say anything. 

He picked up the pace, practically running to the room. 

The chief of medicine was coming his way, just outside the room. The blinds were shut, as they usually were, and the man caught him by the shoulder. 

“Let me see him!” Robin demanded loudly. There had to be some misunderstanding on his part, he just needed to  _ see  _ Joseph, and know he was okay. He had to be okay. 

“Just a moment,” the doctor said, holding a hand up. “He’s not dead, but….”

Robin shook his head. “No… No don’t tell me. He was fine! He was happy and excited to come home-  _ what happened?! _ ”

“I…” The doctor pinched the bridge of his nose, exhausted. “I don’t know. Something’s not right.”

“I know it’s not right! It’s not right because he  _ can’t _ have done it again! He was  _ better! _ ” 

The Teen Wonder shoved the cardboard tray into the man’s hands, pushing past and bolting into the room. He came to a very sudden halt inside the door. 

There was something he hoped to see, that he knew he wouldn’t. He was prepared to be disappointed. He knew what to expect, he was going to see something he didn’t like. 

The endless tubes and wires, recording vitals and feeding blood back into Joseph’s veins; he was prepared for that. 

The straps wrapped around Joseph’s wrists, restraining him to the bed again; he was prepared for that. 

The plastic mask, strapped over Joey’s nose and mouth, flowing with oxygen and fogging up periodically with his sleeping breaths; he was prepared for that. 

The slightly bloodied bandages wrapped from Joseph’s wrists to his elbows, hinting at ghastly wounds; he was prepared for that. 

The lone nurse, gathering up the crash cart to take back out of the room, looking tired and ashen; he was prepared even for that. 

Nothing could have prepared him for the most shocking factor, though. It didn’t make any sense, and it left a pit in his stomach. Dread. He took out his communicator, the chief of medicine standing grimly behind him. His hand was trembling slightly, but he pressed the call button firmly enough. 

“Raven, I need you down here, now.”

Joseph was floating, a foot off the bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's one more chapter and an epilogue after this! I just really love Slade trying to be a good dad, because he does love his children. Also I don't know if you've noticed but like every single chapter in this ends with a suicide attempt. Yikes. Two steps forward and one step back. Hopefully Robin can figure out what to do before it's too late, but something tells me there's not much time left. 
> 
> Once again the song for this chapter is [Last Ray of Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXiuWRoJDfA&ab_channel=starsetonlinestarsetonlineOfficialArtistChannel)


	4. Protège Moi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were wrong. Joseph is being used by Trigon to come back to this world, and they don't know how to save their friend. Can they stop Trigon from coming before it's too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the last full chapter! All that's left after this is an epilogue. Reminder, please check the tags. Content warning for this chapter in particular: A character getting stabbed and dying. If you know the comics you obviously already know where this is going but hopefully the delivery will still give you some shock value? We'll see. 
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Protège Moi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78gnqecSEw8) by Placebo. It's in French, but there is an English version by the same band, [Protect Me From What I Want.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDT2Xhvadnw&ab_channel=PLACEBO/) I don't like it as much, personally, but maybe you will.

“I… I don’t understand,” Raven repeated, possibly for the tenth time. She, Robin, and the chief of medicine were all standing in the room, staring at an unconscious Joseph. His body kept hovering in the air, flat as a board. He bobbed up and down just slightly, as if floating in water. The straps weren’t keeping him tethered in any way, either, he was in no danger of floating away; he was merely suspended in midair, unresponsive. 

Robin and Raven knew what it looked like, but they’d been too afraid and shocked to say it at first. Finally Robin admitted the truth. 

“I’m no expert on the subject,” he said softly, “but it seems like he’s in a healing trance. Like when you-”

“No.” Raven cut him off sharply, her voice tight. “No, he can’t be. Humans can’t heal themselves, not like  _ this _ .”

“Raven…” Robin pressed. “There’s more going on here than we thought. We need to figure it out. Now.”

Raven looked more pale than usual, eyes wide and horrified. Robin understood what she was afraid of- he was afraid too. But they couldn’t let their fears stop them from facing this problem. 

“He can’t… It’s not possible…” the empath breathed, as if afraid she would be overheard. Robin knew that in that second she wasn’t referring to Joseph.

“Raven, listen,” Robin said, putting both hands on her shoulders and capturing her full attention. “Maybe we can stop it from getting worse. We have to figure out exactly what’s going on and then maybe we can find a way…”

She was trembling. It wasn’t visible, due to her cloak, but he could feel it under his hands. Her worst nightmares were repeating themselves, with completely new and unknown factors. 

“I… I’ll look some more…” she croaked, pulling her hood up. She turned into a shadow, quickly melting into the floor, fleeing the room. Robin clenched his fists, closing his eyes to calm himself. 

“Tell me what happened,” he said. “I need to know everything.”

“Well,” the doctor said, seeming as lost for words as the Titans. “You were right; he was perfectly fine yesterday. Absolutely no signs of the fear or worry he’d had when he first arrived here. He was excited to go home, there’s been no nightmares for a few weeks now. I was convinced that the medication and psychotherapy were working. The support you and your friends have been giving him lately certainly helped him make a huge turnaround.”

Robin could only think of Slade. The man was the true catalyst for the change in Joseph. He’d believed his son- and now more than ever it seemed he was right. Robin moved closer to the bed, standing over Joey’s floating form. The doctor continued. 

“Of course, this changes everything. It seems like there’s more going on here than anyone in this hospital is qualified to understand. I was hoping that there could be some explanation? If this is normal for him…?”

“It’s not,” Robin said grimly. “This shouldn’t be happening. He can heal quickly, yes, but not like this. This has never happened before, not to him.”

“But to your friend? This is something that’s happened to her before?” the chief inquired. Robin could only nod, not seeing any point in lying about it. 

“There’s more going on than suicidal tendencies,” Robin said with a serious frown. “Tell me about what happened after we left last night.”

“Everything was normal,” the man started. “He was in a good mood, went to sleep at a decent hour; no signs of anything out of place. Then, according to the machines his heart rate spiked in the early hours of the morning. It alerted the nurse on duty, and when she got here, his arms had been slashed open and he was bleeding out, barely conscious. She did everything as she was supposed to, called for backup while she tried to stem the bleeding, got a crash cart in here and the supplies to suture the wounds as quickly as possible. I was at home in bed when I got the page, and I came as quickly as possible.”

Robin couldn’t help but glare slightly. “And where did he get something sharp enough to slice up his arms? There’s not supposed to be anything he can hurt himself with in this room. We even brought plasticware for our party yesterday; what the hell happened?”

“I don’t know,” the man admitted seriously. “I think you should take a look at the cuts yourself, to get an idea of what might have happened.”

The doctor took one of Joseph’s wrists, turning his arm over and starting to unwrap the bandages starting from his elbow. Robin grimaced as he saw the first sign of a cut, but was shocked as more of the wound was revealed. There wasn’t  _ one _ cut, but three. The center one started at the crook of his elbow, while the other two were about half an inch further down his arm. They were jagged and rough; flesh torn rather than cut. Like claw marks, as opposed to the cut of a knife. 

The flesh was red, damaged, but showed signs of healing. The stitches held the wounds shut, and layers of gauze staunched the bleeding. Still, these weren’t the wounds of someone attempting suicide, not exactly…

“The other arm is the same,” the doctor explained, wrapping it back up. “Three cuts, the ones in the center being the longest, and the cuts themselves being imprecise, as you can see. This didn’t happen with a scalpel or a knife. To me they look like claw marks.”

Robin took one of Joey’s hands in his own, looking at his fingers. “It’s almost as if he scratched his own arms open, but there’s no way…” Joseph’s nails were still trimmed short; they always were, because otherwise he couldn’t play his guitar properly. 

“It doesn’t seem like that would be humanly possible,” the doctor said, “but neither is floating in midair or taking over the minds of others. If he was lost in his own fear, a very primal fear, then he might have had the adrenaline boost to do it. Strange things happen to people when they’re afraid. I don’t know how likely it is but for now it seems the most possible explanation. Unless you’ve seen anything like it before?”

“No, I haven’t,” Robin shook his head. “It looks like something attacked him, but there’s no signs of anything or anyone else being in here?” 

“No,” the man answered. “We have surveillance outside in the hallways, and some extra outside the window as an extra precaution. The paparazzi can be ruthless, I didn’t want to take any chances. I wondered the same thing as you, but reviewing the footage, nothing and no one came in or out.”

Robin let out a sigh, his heart feeling heavy in his chest. “And there hasn’t been any nightmares. Is it really possible that he got them again so suddenly, and so badly as to do a complete 180?”

“Again, not likely, but I can’t say it’s impossible.” They were silent for a few moments, before he added something else. “I don’t know if this will make it better or worse...but if he were a normal human being he wouldn’t have survived the blood loss. By all means he should be dead, but he’s not. For whatever reason, if it’s his metagenes or something else, he’s lucky to be alive.”

Robin couldn’t speak, his throat was too tight. He still hand Joseph’s hand in his, and he squeezed the fingers tightly, blinking behind his mask. The chief of medicine left quietly after a moment, so that Robin could be alone. Time ticked by slowly, but Robin wasn’t keeping track. His thoughts spiraled around dark things, weighing him down. 

Joseph should be dead. He wasn’t, but this could have been the end. He could have come in this morning and found his friend dead, after all they’d fought against. He began to cry, silently, tears leaking out from the bottom of his mask. He watched Joseph; the only real sign of life in him was the fog of his breath behind the plastic breathing aid. Even that seemed too artificial to be real. There was no real way of knowing when he’d wake up. Possibly when he’d finished healing, but then again, maybe not. 

And when he  _ did _ wake up, they’d be back on square one all over again. 

“Godamnit…” the Teen Wonder choked out. “We were so close…”

He wanted to scream and punch things, and make all of this go away. How many times did they have to repeat the same cycle? It got worse every time- what if next time Joseph didn’t make it? Robin couldn’t handle this. He’d lost too many people, he couldn’t bear the thought of going through all of this again. 

“I wish you were awake…” he said. “I wish you could tell me what happened. I know it looks like you just did it to yourself again but I wish you would wake up and tell me it didn’t happen like that. That you didn’t try again…”

He watched his friend’s sleeping face, with the same sense of  _ déjà vu _ that he kept feeling over and over. He had to make it different this time. It was his last chance. The same mistakes couldn’t be repeated; Joseph wouldn’t survive. 

“I’m going to fix it, I promise,” he told Joseph, hoping that he could somehow hear. “Please, hold on a little longer. I’m going to figure this out, and I’m going to fix it. I won’t let you die.”

* * *

The Tower became a very grim and dark place that day. No one reacted well to the news of Joey’s condition. Raven was locked in her room, presumably searching through her books for some answer. Robin and Cyborg teamed up to check through the internet, but neither search was turning up information. 

“So the floating stuff only happens to Raven cuz of her powers, right?” Beast Boy asked. He and Star weren’t able to help much, but they were just as eager to find an answer. 

“Right.” Robin humored him. 

“And that is because she is part demon, yes?” Starfire added. 

“Yes.”

“Then Joey’s gotta be part demon!” Beast Boy declared. “Which would mean Trigon could use him!”

“That’s the working theory,” Robin said, a little tensely. “But there’s nothing in his DNA indicating that he is, so none of this is making any sense. If we could understand how it happened, how he came to have even a sliver of demonic traits, we might be able to figure out a way to get rid of them.”

BB and Star thought for a moment, quietly, before the alien spoke up. 

“How do we know?”

“How do we know what, Star?”

“How do we know that his DNA is not like Raven’s?”

“We looked at it before remem-?” Robin froze, something clicking in his mind. “Like Raven’s! Cyborg, pull up our DNA database again!”

“I’m already on it!” the eldest teen said, flipping through a series of programs on the computer he was plugged into. 

Joseph’s was already on-hand, since they’d looked at it most recently. The results were still pictured, two sets of data side-by-side, showing no significant change. Cyborg dug into the history, until he found a sample from Raven. He put all three into the program, where they could be compared. Minutes ticked by as the computer analyzed any similarities between Joey and Raven’s blood samples. There was a soft  _ ding _ and the results came up. Cyborg sped-read them. 

“There’s something there- something  _ really _ small,” he confirmed. “Not as if they were siblings, but as if they’re distant cousins or something. It’s not that special, but maybe that’s enough?”

“Does it say whether the shared part is something that could be from Trigon?” Robin asked. 

“There’s no way to tell,” Cy answered, frowning. “This system isn’t sophisticated enough to tell the blood of different humanoid species. It could be that Raven’s mother is distantly related to one of Joseph’s parents. Obviously if I had some Trigon DNA in there I could test it against Joey’s, or even a sample from both of his parents,  _ maybe _ , but…”

“It’s still something,” Robin said. “At least I hope so. Star, go tell Raven about this. Maybe having a fraction of relation can mean something within the context of demonic magic or maybe Raven has a way to find out if this piece that matches even means anything for certain.”

Moments later, the alarms went off, and Robin cursed. They just didn’t have  _ time  _ for this! He picked up his communicator. 

“Raven, keep doing what you’re doing. The rest of us can handle it.”

“ _ Call me if you need me, _ ” she said. 

On one hand, they didn’t need her, at least not badly enough for Robin to call her and have her drop her research. On the other hand, once they left the Tower, the rest of the day was filled with non-stop disaster. Not villians, no, but a large series of accidents and natural disasters, all over the city. Sinkholes started popping up, fires starting everywhere, the dam bursting, a mudslide, and the biggest of all was an earthquake. Not enough to level the whole city, but enough that old buildings collapsed, the sinkholes got worse, and the city itself (while still whole) started to fall apart at the seams. Throughout the day, they were lucky that no one died, and even the more seriously injured seemed like they would pull through okay. 

It was the most frustrating day Robin could remember during his time in Jump. Joseph was in terrible danger and they didn’t even have the time to dedicate to finding an answer. By the time everything was mostly sorted, civilians were all safe and the cleanup was starting to get handled, it was already dusk. Irritated, Robin decided to call the hospital. 

“Jump City General Hospital, how can I help you?”

“It’s Robin,” he said. “I’d like to speak to the chief of medicine, please.”

He was redirected and soon the man was answering the phone. 

“Robin?” 

“Yeah, hi, I’m sorry none of us have been able to come visit, I was just wondering…”

“He hasn’t woken up yet,” the doctor said sympathetically. “There’s no changes to his condition.”

“I see,” Robin said, trying not to sound too disappointed. “Well, there were a lot of accidents today, is there anyone who’s doing very badly?”

“It’s made us pretty busy today, but no. Even the more injured ones that fell down the largest sinkhole are stable. We got lucky.”

Robin frowned, and he couldn’t help but think it was the most  _ un _ lucky day ever. “That’s good to hear,” he said. “I don’t think any of us will make it for a visit today, it’s already starting to get late, but I’ll be there tomorrow as early as I can, just to check on him.”

“That’s fine,” the chief said. “I’m sure you guys had a rough day so get as much rest as you can, alright?”

“Will do, sir.”

* * *

Despite the chief’s suggestion, Robin stayed up, researching late into the night. Finding answers was still more important than resting at this point. He kept it up until he passed out, only waking up when someone was shook his shoulder.

“Robin, wake up! Wake up, you have to see this!”

He blinked, lifting his head off the keyboard and seeing Raven standing in front of him, a panicked look on her face. He groaned, already feeling a crick in his neck. “Raven? What is it?”

“Get up; look out the window!”

Groggy, Robin turned around, to see what Raven was talking about. His heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t yet dawn; the moon had been eclipsed, leaving only a fiery ring in the sky, standing out against the darkness of the night, but instead of the usual inky black, it was a deep crimson, almost as dark. He bolted to his feet, chair clattering to the ground. Raven made a sound like a horrified whimper. 

“It’s happening again… He’s coming…”

The alarms blared, lights flashing. Quicker than he could even think, Robin was opening up the details of the alert, though he was already afraid that he knew what was wrong. 

“It’s the hospital, they’re putting through a call.” He answered it, “Hello?!”

There was no visual for this type of call, only a window that had sound bars to illustrate the sound coming through. And those sounds- they made his hair stand on end. Screams, glass breaking, walls and floors crumbling and breaking. Just as soon as the call had come, the line went dead, with one last sound coming through before it cut off. Robin frowned, eyebrows creasing. He quickly began trying to call back, but the line remained dead. 

“Yo, what-?” Cyborg stopped when he saw out the window, hesitating for only a second before running to join Robin at the computer. Starfire and Beast Boy arrived moments later, but could only stand and watch. 

“Cy, replay the audio from the last call,” Robin ordered. “I’m going to hack into the hospital’s security to try and see what’s happening.”

A moment later, Cyborg had the file open, playing through and listening, wide-eyed. It came to an end and the same sound came through at the very end. 

“Beast Boy,” Robin said, “do you recognize that?”

“It’s a little hard to tell,” the changeling said, “but it sounds like a big cat. Maybe a lion?”

“A lion…?” Raven murmured, looking lost. “I don’t know why that would be…”

“Got it!” Robin cut her off, pulling up footage, from half an hour ago, starting outside of Joseph’s room and window. 

He played it, fast forwarding until the second he saw something. They all watched, as the door opened. A figure stepped through, but just before they were in clear view the footage turned to static. Robin typed furiously, following every camera in the area from the same point in time, seeing a pattern right away. 

The figure walked through the halls, but just as they came into sight of a camera, it would malfunction. People who were within view, the night shift nurses and doctors, seemed to startle and cower from whoever was walking through the halls. Around them, the building began to fall apart. The floors split open, the walls collapsed. Windows broke, leaving glass.

“I have an idea,” Cyborg said urgently, taking over the controls. He adjusted the cameras and timeframe until he was looking at the wreckage left behind by the figure. Moving forward along the path of destruction, he eventually came to find a set of bloodied footprints, after the broken glass. A little further along, however, and the blood stopped. “If that’s Joseph walking with cut up feet, he should still be bleeding, right? But he seems to have stopped after about a minute.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Robin said. “After yesterday, anything could be happening with him. What we need to find out is where he went.”

“We already know…” Raven said, in a small voice. It clicked in everyone’s minds at the same time.

“We can’t waste any time,” Robin turned away from the computer, to the empath. “Raven, can you take me there? The others can catch up but at least some of us need to be there  _ now. _ ”

She nodded, letting down her hood and closing her eyes for a moment of preparation.

“Meet us at the historical library,” Robin told the others. “Make your way underground as fast as you can, we’ll need all the force we can muster. Maybe we can stop it this time. If not, then...good luck…”

He hated leaving them behind- he wanted them all to be there right away. He knew, though, that if Raven spent her energy carrying all of them, she couldn’t help them in the upcoming battle, which would be worse. 

Raven’s shadow grew, surrounding them, and taking off across the sky to the city. 

* * *

The chamber where Raven became the portal had been pretty badly wrecked three years ago; now it was unrecognizable. The statues that lined the corridors were now just shapeless pillars of stone. Carved into the walls were gouges, like giant claw marks. Just like the marks on Joseph’s arm…

“What made these?” Robin wondered, feeling anxious. The cuts went deep into the rock- frighteningly deep. He shuddered, not wanting to know what made them, but thinking that they might find out very soon.

It was quiet, putting them both on edge. They approached the chamber, feeling an electric charge in the air. Raven reached out, grabbing Robin’s hand and holding it tightly out of fear. He pulled her closer, moving her behind him as they reached the last corner. There was still nothing to be heard, or any signs of life. He turned back, and they each gave a single nod, before darting around the corner through the entrance.

A demonic roar pierced their eardrums, rattling the high ceilings. A giant shadow leapt in front of them, almost completely black, with hints of emerald along the edges. Suddenly, everything made sense to them. Raven’s soul self swelled up, forcing the lion back. The two shadows pressed against each other, fighting for dominance, until they both gave out from the sheer force of power between them. 

“ _ Your struggle is useless. You’re too late. _ ”

The voice was familiar, but strange. It echoed, as if multiple people were speaking. From the darkness, they spotted a red glow, and a figure stepped forward. It wasn’t Joseph. At least, not anymore. He still wore the same hospital scrubs, though they were tattered. The bandages were gone, with only scars to show for the wounds that had nearly killed him a day ago. He had four glowing red eyes, and red runes etched all over his body, looking almost like bleeding cuts. They were similar to the ones that Raven had, but they were scattered along his body with almost no pattern. Up and down his limbs, over his torso, and on his cheek was the dreaded mark of Scath. Dark energy radiated from him, invisible yet still palpable. Robin put a hand to his belt, gripping a birdarang. 

“ _ Foolish boy, _ ” Trigon spoke, through Joseph’s body. “ _ You cannot save him. He is already gone. _ ”

“You’re  _ lying! _ ” Raven hissed, her own eyes starting to glow white. “I know he’s in there, and I know we can save him.”

The face of their friend twisted in a cruel sneer, as he turned away from them, walking back to the center of the room. He spoke over his shoulder. “ _ He wouldn’t survive the process. You’d have to kill him, and I know you won’t. If you had it in you, you wouldn’t have stopped him every time he tried. _ ” The demon laughed, and the very marks on his back seemed to mock them. “ _ Stupid girl. Your short-minded human morals compelled you to save his life, even at the cost of your whole world. By the way, boy, if you had followed your instincts, this would have been harder. Letting his father come to him proved to be a blessing for me. My former servant was kind enough to place these marks, even if he had no idea he was doing it.” _

Robin screamed out, in rage and frustration, rushing forward, throwing the weapon in hand and taking out his staff. The blonde whipped around, a hand clawed with blackness slashing right through the birdarang. Even as Robin got close enough to attack, he was shoved back by Joseph’s soul-self again, the shadow of a lion pouncing and pinning him down. 

“ _ You’re as annoying as I remember, _ ” Trigon said. “ _ But still no stronger. I’ll not repeat the same mistakes, however; I’ll just destroy you now. _ ”

The lion snarled, baring its teeth and curling its claws, about to tear into Robin. 

“ _ Azarath, metrion, zinthos! _ ”

Once again, Raven used the full force of her soul to fight off the demon’s shadow, getting it away from Robin. The two spirit animals fought each other again, more fiercely than before. Robin scrambled to his feet, picking his staff back up. 

“Keep going!” he shouted to Raven. Fighting her would keep Trigon’s attention on her, which would give Robin the chance to attack again. He didn’t know what their goal was, exactly, but a knock-out hit ought to buy them some time. 

There were so many things running through his mind, but he turned away from them, focusing on one thing only, and running forward again. 

The next few minutes were a blur, a cycle of running and getting knocked back, never letting up. Robin’s throat was starting to feel sore from the yelling he was doing, but he kept on screaming and shouting as he attacked. If he didn’t, he felt like he wasn’t giving it his all, and that was not an option. Trigon alternated from grappling with Raven, and knocking away Robin, but he wasn’t letting up. Robin fell back just a bit, knowing that this wasn’t working. 

“ _ You’re boring me, _ ” Trigon said with disdain. “ _ It’s almost time. Say goodnight, little birds. _ ”

With a surge of strength, his soul-self overpowered Raven’s, rushing at the two teens. Before they could even flinch, however, a new battle cry rang out, and a daunting, hulking figure knocked Joseph to the floor, breaking his concentration and causing the lion to vanish. The teens’ eyes widened, as they saw who’d attacked Joey. 

Slade stood, for just a moment, before Trigon snarled with rage, forcing Joseph to attack physically. The man was all dressed in uniform, with extra pieces of armor and weapons covering his body. The pair fought viciously, both of them quickly drawing blood. 

“Now!” the man said, voice strained as he fought to hold the blonde still. “You know what to do!”

“Okay!” Raven answered, lifting her hands, magic encasing them. “Robin, I can’t stop once I start, do what you can to help hold him off.”

She began an incantation, something in a language Robin didn’t understand. He stood in front of her, on guard. He didn’t dare join the deadly fight in front of him; not unless he had to. If he did he’d either get killed or just get in Slade’s way. Neither the father nor the son was holding back, and with the power and strength they both had… For whatever reason, Trigon was refraining from using much of his demonic powers, only clawing at Slade here and there, making gashes in the man’s uniform. 

Raven’s voice got louder; Robin tensed, sensing that she was nearing the end of her spell. Trigon roared, filled with rage, pushing back harder against Slade. The man’s metal mask was shattered by a particularly strong blow, but Slade didn’t slow down for a second.

Raven cried out, suddenly, taking a step back as if she’d been pushed. “It’s not working! I can’t separate them!”

“ _ You’re weak! _ ” Trigon sneered, seeming slightly smug at this development. Slade growled, taking advantage of the very short distraction, shoving Joseph against the wall, pinning him there with all his strength. 

“What can we do?” Robin asked urgently, turning to Raven.

She shook her head, pale. “We can’t… It’s too risky!”

Trigon’s laugh shook the walls. “ _ Cowards! I knew you never had it in you… _ ”

“What is it?!” Slade snapped, ignoring the demon. “What do we have to  _ do _ ?”

Before she could respond, the blonde made a choking sound. They all turned to him sharply, as he seemed to struggle. Four eyes closed; he screamed with rage once more, and all they could do was watch. 

“ _ Do it… _ ” The voice that spoke was no longer Trigon’s. It was soft, fearful yet firm. “ _ Do it… _ ”

Slade seemed to falter. “Joseph?”

One pair of green eyes opened again, filled with pain. “ _ Please… Stop us…” _

He choked again, face screwing up as he tried to remain in control. It was a losing fight however, and with another ground-shaking roar, the four red eyes returned, and a surge of power knocked the man back. 

“ _ You’re too late! _ ” The marks began to glow brighter, seeming to expand, covering Joseph’s skin with blood-red light. 

“Try again!” Slade barked at Raven, who didn’t hesitate to comply. The man drew his sword, looking grim. Robin’s eyes widened, as he understood what Slade was about to do. He called out, feeling the urge to stop it even now, but it was drowned out by Slade’s last battle cry, one filled with agony, chilling Robin to the core. 

Slade charged forward, piercing Joseph’s chest, thrusting forward until the blade spouted from his back. 

The earth’s trembling stopped, and all the glowing marks started to fade. Trigon snarled again, trying to pull away from the sword to heal, but Slade held onto him tightly with his other hand. Raven’s voice reached a climax again, and the demon screamed. 

“Get out!” she shouted. “Let him go!”

A new glowing light appeared, just above the sword, emerging from the blonde’s heaving chest. It was dark red, radiating evil. Trigon struggled, still trying to break free. There was something holding the glowing orb back- no, that wasn’t right. It was holding on, anchoring itself to Joseph. 

Raven let out a defiant, desperate cry, pulling hard. “Robin-” she choked. “You have to grab him!”

“What?” He didn’t understand, but he didn’t have much time to figure it out. Raven finished pulling the red energy out of Joseph, but it pulled something else out with it. Joseph’s body went limp, with one last breath of air escaping his lungs. Now, Robin could see it. The redness had surrounded a different light, glowing a faint green, so pale it was almost white. He understood. 

Without a host, this piece of Trigon’s soul was crumbling, but it had ripped out Joseph’s with it in one last act of bitter vengeance. 

Robin stepped forward, beginning to run. His feet hit the pavement hard, as he pushed himself. It was higher than Slade’s head at this point, so he made a flying leap, stretching out with all his might, fingers grasping the two glowing lights. Then, it was as if his body was frozen in air, as his mind and heart did the rest of the work. He felt warmth, and cold. He curled his fingers forcefully, prying away the warmth, saving it from being devoured. The evil held on, but it was weakening by the second. 

“Let go of him!” he cried out, unsure of whether he only thought the words or actually shouted. 

Finally, Robin broke free, the warmth rushing into him, down his arm and into his chest, spreading all throughout his body. He fell to the ground, the last echoing shrieks of Trigon still ringing in his ears. The ringing didn’t stop, and as he sat on the ground, regaining his breath, his vision started to tunnel as well. 

He had the sense that he was meant to be holding on to something; it had to do with the swelling sensation of warmth in his chest. He couldn’t let that warmth fade; he struggled to stay conscious, as he watched Slade fall to his knees as well, holding the body of his son. He could hear (however muffled) the cries of the man, as he cradled Joseph’s empty body. The two of them were covered in blood. 

Raven was calling out to him, but he could barely hear. Something pulled him down into darkness. 

* * *

Joseph was looking at his own body. His father was holding his dead body, crying. He didn’t understand. He couldn’t move, even when he tried to. Was he dead? No… There was a pounding heartbeat in his chest, and a sense of exhaustion. Breath moved in and out past his lips. Yet,  _ there _ was his body. His heart was definitely not beating, he was not breathing; he was dead. 

It felt like he was sleeping, so he fought hard to wake up, and focus. Get in control… Noises started to come through, and he could hear Raven, shouting. 

“Robin! Robin, snap out of it!”

Where was Robin? He turned, curiously, just as Raven grabbed him by the shoulders. 

“Robin! Are you listening? Can you hear me?”

Joseph blinked, confused. “What…” he murmured, before catching himself. He touched his throat. That wasn’t supposed to happen, he couldn’t speak… He looked down, spotting green gloves. Gloves? He looked up at Raven, wondering what the hell was going on. 

“Robin?” she asked, uncertain. He could only shake his head. He tried to remember exactly what happened…

At the hospital, after the party, after he’d gone to sleep, the marks started to show. Powers that weren’t his own entered his body, and he knew that it was too late. He used these powers in another attempt to kill himself, then there was nothing but the panic of the nurses and doctors, as he faded out of consciousness. The next thing he knew, Trigon was in control, and he was forced to walk here. Slade, Robin, and Raven all came, to stop it from happening. He regained control enough to beg for death, knowing it was the only way for Raven’s spell to work. 

The only way to take a soul out of a body was to kill it.

A sword pierced through his chest. Raven pulled out the piece of Trigon in him, but Trigon pulled out his soul with it. After his soul left his body, he could no longer see or hear, but he could feel. Someone grabbed a hold of him, and then…

“Oh,” he said softly, looking at Robin’s hands; not his own. Not his heartbeat, or his breath. Not his body. His body was over there, dead. “Thank you…” he breathed. It was over, Trigon was gone again.

Raven took his face in her hands, holding it so that they were very close, and she stared at him. He reached up, taking off Robin’s mask, and she gasped softly. 

“Joey.”

Slade looked up, immediately making eye contact with a now maskless Robin. Slade had known the Boy Wonder’s identity for years. He knew that his eyes were blue. The eyes looking back at him now were an unmistakable shade of bright green. 

“Dad…” it was Robin’s voice, but Robin was not speaking. Tears brimmed over his eyes. 

“I’m sorry,” was all Slade could say, heartbreak in his voice. “I didn’t want to, but I had no choice.”

“I asked you to,” he answered softly. “It’s okay. Thank you for saving me.”

He emitted a sense of peace that seemed to have been gone for a long time. Raven could feel it, and she was torn. On one hand, Joey’s suffering was over. On the other hand, they didn’t do enough to stop it before this point. And on top of that, their problems were far from finished. 

“Don’t feel guilty,” Joseph said to her, guessing her train of thought. “It’s okay now.”

“It’s not okay,” she answered, with a lump in her throat. “Your soul got ripped out of your body, and I can’t just put it back.”

“What?” Slade asked sharply, turning his gaze to her.

“I’m safe,” Joey reassured them both. “If it takes time to work out a solution, that’s okay. I’m not moving on or anything, I’m staying here.” He put Robin’s hand on his own chest. 

It was then that the others arrived, bursting in. They came to a sudden halt upon the scene that they found. The most obvious was the body. Starfire gasped loudly with horror. 

“Friend Joseph!” Her eyes lit up, with grief and rage, as she saw the bloodied sword on the ground. “You’ve murdered him!”

“It’s okay,” Joseph answered, though at first they only saw him as Robin. He looked at them, giving them all a chance to see what was going on. “I’m right here.”

“Joey?” Beast Boy’s eyes widened with confusion. 

“What happened?” Cyborg asked, equally lost. 

“I’ll explain everything I can,” he answered. “But I don’t have much time.”

“You said you weren’t moving on,” Slade pointed out. “What do you mean you don’t have time?”

“This isn’t my body,” he explained. “It wouldn’t be right to stay in control of it. I can’t take Robin’s body away from him. I’ll stay here, but I won’t take what isn’t mine to have. He’s exhausted, and he needs rest after all of this. I need to let him sleep, and when he wakes up, he’ll be in control again. I’ll stay asleep, until you find a new place for me.”

“I-” Slade stopped. He didn’t want to let go of his son, but he knew he couldn’t argue against it. Joey was right; it wouldn’t be fair to Robin, and Joey was too kind-hearted to be unfair. “I understand. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure that we find a solution soon.”

Robin’s head nodded. “I know. Then let me tell you what I learned. It’s too late for this information to be useful now, but maybe in the future someone might need it.”

* * *

Robin woke up in his bed. He knew he was in his bed, he’d been sleeping in this room for years, and for a moment it seemed normal. Then he remembered the events leading up to losing consciousness in the first place. 

He sat upright, wide awake all of a sudden.  _ Joseph! _ Was he okay? What happened? Maybe it was all a dream… Robin checked the calendar on his communicator, and knew that it couldn’t have been. His mind tried to wrap itself around the timeline. The day of the party, then the unlucky day when Joseph had been found hovering above his bed and everything went wrong. Then, in the early hours the next morning, the sky had changed color and they raced to stop Trigon from using Joseph to come back. According to the calendar, that was yesterday. Robin remembered passing out after Slade had stabbed Joey’s body, and Robin had grabbed his- soul? 

Robin shook his head to clear it. Then he’d slept for a whole day and a whole night? It was early, but the sun was up so that was a little over 24 hours of sleep. He felt very well rested, no pain or soreness from the fight against Trigon-possessed-Joseph, though he remembered taking a few hits. Raven must have healed him and brought him back, but that didn’t explain what had happened in the end.

Quickly, the Teen Wonder threw aside his covers and got up, changing into a fresh uniform and making a quick trip to the bathroom before leaving his room to find someone who could tell him what happened. He saw no one in the hall, so he went to Raven’s room, knocking on the door. 

“Raven? Are you in there?”

The door opened, fully, and Raven was standing there. “You’re awake,” she said, with a hint of relief. “Wait… Are you, you?”

He blinked. “What does that mean?”

“You are,” she concluded. “Then, come on, we’ll explain what’s happening.”

She led him down the hall, to the main room, where everyone else already was. 

“Robin’s awake,” she announced. Starfire drifted up and gave him a hug, while the others did look happy to see him. 

“Friend Robin, we are glad you are alright,” Star said. 

“How are you feeling?” Beast Boy asked, in a way that Robin found strange, though he didn’t know why. 

“I feel… Better. I feel pretty good, actually,” he admitted. “But what’s going on? What happened? Is Joey…?” He couldn’t bring himself to say the word. A part of him was sure Joseph couldn’t have survived, but everyone seemed too cheerful and relaxed for him to have died. Yet, he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“It’s… complicated,” Cyborg told him. “Joseph didn’t die but he’s not exactly around.”

“That doesn’t explain anything,” Robin said. 

“Come sit down,” Raven said, gesturing to the couch. “We can explain everything.”

They all gathered to sit together on the couch, with Robin in the middle. Raven stood in front of him, obviously taking charge in this explanation. 

“How much do you remember?” she asked. 

“The whole fight,” he said. “Up until Slade stabbed Joseph, and you pulled out the part of Trigon possessing him and I grabbed… I don’t really know what, but I know it was Joseph, or a part of him, and then after that I blacked out.”

“That’s right. My spell was meant to pull out Trigon. Ideally, it would have exorcised him and left Joseph himself again, but Trigon had buried himself deep into Joey, binding their souls together. I couldn’t pull him out without removing Joey’s soul in the process. In fact, I couldn’t do anything at all until Trigon- Joseph, physically speaking -was weakened enough to remove his soul. He had to be gravely wounded, which was difficult seeing as Trigon gave him the ability to heal, even better than I can.”

“So that’s why he was in a healing trance,” Robin said, understanding. “And that’s how he cut his own arms to begin with, through Trigon’s powers. So even if he’d been more successful at earlier attempts, he wouldn’t have died?”

“No, earlier on he didn’t have the powers of Trigon,” Raven said, “but by the time Trigon started to take over his body and give him those powers, it was too late to be able to kill him very easily.”

“Alright, so Slade used his sword to keep the wound from healing, and that’s when you pulled out Trigon’s soul, which pulled out Joey’s soul with it.”

“I couldn’t separate them,” Raven said. “But you could.”

“Me?” Robin’s eyebrows raised. “What could I do that you couldn’t?”

“Physically speaking, you were the only one unoccupied with a task,” Raven said. “Slade was busy keeping Joey’s body from regenerating and pulling the souls back, and I was doing my part to keep that from happening as well. If either of us let up, his body would have healed and both souls still could have reentered it. But it was more than that. Not just anyone could pull Joey’s soul free from a demon as powerful as Trigon.”

Starfire put a warm hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Your love is a very strong thing.”

Robin blanched slightly at that. “My- what?”

Cy and BB snickered; Raven rolled her eyes. “I told you two before, it’s platonic. Stop being idiots. Yes, Robin, love; a pure and strong friendship in this case. Only people with a very close relationship- friends or otherwise -could have pulled off what you did. You cared for him so strongly that you were able to overpower Trigon’s hold over him, and he trusted you enough for his soul to bond with yours.”

Robin took this in, silent for a moment. It was a lot to think about. He knew it was true; he cared for his friends a lot. They were his family. He’d be all alone if he hadn’t found them. And yes, he and Joseph had bonded after the blonde became a Titan, enough that Jericho became a member of their team rather than joining one of the others. It was impossible not to like and be friends with him. 

What was surprising to the Titan leader was that the feelings went both ways. Joseph still  _ trusted  _ him, enough to… The full weight of the situation dawned on him. 

“Then Joseph entrusted me with…. With  _ himself. _ His soul,” he said with slight reverence, a hand touching his heart, as if he would feel that soul again. “I have his soul inside of me?”

Raven nodded. “Yes. When you blacked out, he took control for a few minutes, long enough to tell us what he learned from Trigon’s thoughts and memories, and for us to make sure we all understood the plan for getting him a new body. For the time being, you’re carrying him with you. We’re still trying to work out a  _ way  _ to get him back into his own body, but for now, he’s staying with you.”

Robin didn’t know what to say. He didn’t feel like he’d earned the right, after failing over and over to help his friend. 

“His soul could have been destroyed,” Raven said, equally reverent. “It would have been, if you weren’t there. Slade and I might have been able to work together to get rid of Trigon, but you were the one to save Joseph in the end.”

The masked teen still didn’t speak, slightly overwhelmed with feelings. Guilt remained, and he couldn’t really bring himself to accept Raven’s words. She wasn’t wrong about his actions, but to him she made them sound more noble than they really were. He’d been a terrible friend during this time; he’d just happened to be around to grab onto Joseph’s soul. Joseph was trusting and friendly towards everyone; anyone that Joey knew could have pulled that off. 

Out of nowhere, a warm feeling spread through his mind, seeming to brush away the guilt and negative thoughts, like dust and cobwebs. He felt much better, more at peace. Something compelled him to let go of the guilt he felt, reassuring him that he should feel happy and proud, not angry at himself. It felt nice. He let out a soft breath, looking back up at Raven, ready to hear more. 

“What else do we know?” he asked. “How did Trigon manage to put his soul into Joseph in the first place?”

“We’ve been able to piece most of it together, actually,” she said. “Nothing quite like it has ever happened before, but now that it has, we’re recording every detail, so that it can’t happen again.

“After Trigon started to take control over Joseph’s body, Joey could see his thoughts and memories, and was able to pick up exactly what happened. When Slade was in servitude to Trigon, he was under a demon's’ contract. Not a physical one, but a magical one. He would serve Trigon for the reward of getting his flesh and blood back. He agreed, clearly only taking into account the literal definition of his reward.”

Robin’s eyebrows raised. “So Trigon was also holding Joseph hostage, not just Slade’s body?”

“Right,” Raven continued. “When Slade agreed to the deal, he basically agreed that Trigon now owned his flesh and blood, which included Joseph, his only- and technically oldest -living son. That was the first part of Trigon’s plan. Joey isn’t part demon, at least not like I am, so Trigon knew he couldn’t use Joseph as another portal. At least, not in the same way. However, since Joseph was basically his possession at this point, and the eldest son of a man who was in servitude to him, there were things he could do.”

Robin held back a slight shudder, just thinking about Trigon owning Joey, like some slave, due to the blind agreements of his father. 

“Because of all of this, the magical contract allowed him to use Joey as a vessel for a piece of himself. Normally, for a demon to store a piece of themselves in another living being, they need to be allowed in. With horror movies, people get possessed for no real reason after messing with cursed stuff, but that’s not how demons work in real life. They can’t force someone to be a host for them; not without killing that part of them or the host or even both. In order to bind two souls together and allow them to live in one body, there has to be mutual agreement.”

“It’s kinda like horcruxes, right Rae?” BB said, eager to contribute. 

“Well, sort of,” she said, waving a hand in the air. “I mean the storing a piece of your soul in something is the same, but in Harry Potter you don’t need permission if you’re going to use another living thing. That’s beside the point. What the magical contract established was that Trigon owned Slade’s flesh and blood, and would retain it until Slade was finished with his servitude. That circumvents the need for permission.”

“Which meant Trigon could store a piece of his soul with Joseph’s,” Robin said.

“Which I didn’t know was possible without permission,” Raven added. “And I knew Joseph would never had  _ given _ permission, and even if he did he would have mentioned it. All he remembered is that for some period of time, Trigon had him while Slade was working for him.”

“But was Trigon really planning on using Joseph as another kind of portal?” Robin asked. “Was he planning on us beating him?”

“No, of course not, he’s too arrogant,” Raven said. “He was planning on saving Joseph for a rainy day, so to speak. Trigon has been taking over dimensions the same way for eons. He sires a child, like me, waits until they’re of age, and uses them as portals between dimensions. He likely would have continued to do so, but had Joseph kept alive as a back-up plan for unforeseen circumstances. Opportunities to split off a piece of one’s soul and store it in a host to take over later don’t come up very often.”

“So like, in case there was a dimension he couldn’t make a kid in, he could send Joseph there and use him to take it over?” Cyborg said.

Beast Boy groaned, leaning back on the couch. “This is all making my head hurt. If Trigon could send Joseph to another dimension, couldn’t he go there himself?”

“He’s forbidden from traveling freely,” Raven said. “The only way he gets from dimension to dimension is through the work of his followers. I was sired when my mom got caught up with a group of them, and they summoned him in a temporary form to conceive me. With me or any of his other children, he can use blood magic to turn us into portals and come through. In the case of Joseph, he would have used Slade to keep doing his dirty work to escort Joseph to other dimensions.”

“Would Slade have not been freed after he delivered you?” Starfire asked. 

“Trigon’s too underhanded for that,” Robin said. “I bet he had a few loopholes in place to keep Slade in servitude forever.”

“Exactly,” Raven said. “Trigon would have given Slade his body back but still threatened to kill him if he didn’t keep working for him. After all, even Slade couldn’t have survived in Trigon’s world, so he might have kept playing along to make sure Trigon kept him around.”

“Earlier,” Robin remembered, “Trigon was saying that he knew we never would have let Joseph die. I think it’s safe to assume he knew Slade wouldn’t have, either. So if he’d gotten his way and ruled here, Slade would be the perfect guard for Joseph, to make sure he never died or got hurt. Slade never would have let anything happen to him, and so Trigon would always have a back-up plan. He could have kept the two of them alive forever, couldn’t he?”

“That’s basically what he was planning, we believe,” Raven answered. “Slade and Joseph would have both been trapped in eternal indentured servitude. Trigon probably would have kept Joseph in a permanent suspension of some kind, and Slade would have no choice but to cater to every whim, until the day came when Trigon decided to use Joseph. Even though none of that happened, by the time Slade broke the magical contract and we banished Trigon, there was already a piece of him bound to Joseph.”

Robin sat back as well, taking this all in. It was nice to have some answers after all this time, even though it was too late to change anything. Still, at least it had turned out relatively well. Trigon was once again banished from this dimension, and no one was the wiser that he’d even attempted to come back. Except-

“Did anyone talk to the hospital staff?”

“They called yesterday,” Cyborg said. “They wanted to know what happened. We went down there to fix up the damage Trigon caused, and explained to them it was over. We told them that Joseph was recovering back at the Tower, no one knows he sort of died. In fact, since it happened so early in the morning, not that many people saw him. There’s some rumors floating around about it, but no one is even close to the truth. We told them it all had to do with a terrible turn in his ‘illness’ and left it at that. People seem to be buying it.”

“Good,” Robin nodded. “Then, where are we at with his soul? Raven, you said that this was temporary, but what solution are we working towards?”

“It just comes down to finding him a new body,” Raven said. “His original body is extremely wounded and damaged, so there’s no real chance of just putting him back in it. Not to mention it’s been tainted by Trigon, now. Being a vessel for the soul of a demon altered his physiology and DNA just enough that he’s susceptible to being used again by Trigon or another demon. He had just a fraction of demon in him, but not enough that we could have noticed. If we’d had the opportunity to compare his DNA with what he had before Trigon took possession of him, we might have seen a difference, but we didn’t meet him until after.”

“Where is his body?” Robin wanted to know. 

“Slade took it,” Raven said. “He’s looking for a way to clone it, or something. It will take time, of course, but so far it’s the best option we have. I’ll be lending whatever assistance I can on the magical side of things to speed things up, but he’s still working on the science of it to start with.”

Robin pondered for a moment, realizing that all this time they’d just accepted Slade as an ally. Well, he’d turned out to be right in believing Joseph, and now they needed him more than ever to bring their friend back. He’d even taken on the hardest part of all, by killing Joey’s body to help save him and stop Trigon. Robin knew it must have been incredibly difficult, but he’d done it. Robin couldn’t have done such a thing, so he was glad Slade was there to take on such a grave responsibility. 

“Then I guess… Everything’s okay.” He felt a little underwhelmed, like there had to be more to this. “Is there anything I should be doing? To help take care of him or something?”

Raven shrugged. “Two souls sharing a body is very unusual. There’s not exactly a set of instructions or anything about how to care for a soul. I suppose doing your best to keep yourself healthy in every way would be good. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. I don’t really know exactly how it works. I don’t know what affects him, what he sees or feels, if he is aware of anything at all. If he is it might be nice to try and keep things pleasant for him, but if he’s not then you probably don’t have to think about it at all.”

“Do you know if I can talk to him?” Robin asked. “If he was able to take control of me, then he’s still there, sort of, right?”

“I don’t know,” she repeated. “I’m sorry. Maybe if you meditate you could potentially reach him. Or, if you really want to know I could try poking around a little to see? Just give it a few days, so that you can both adjust before we try anything.”

“Hey Raven,” Beast Boy piped up, “if taking Trigon out of Joey made his soul come out as well, is that what’s going to happen when we take him back out of Robin? Are either of them going to get hurt?” He sounded worried and suddenly Robin started to worry too. He could take pain if that’s what it took, but he wasn’t really keen on getting  _ his  _ soul ripped out if it could be avoided.

“Don’t worry,” Raven said. “Their agreement to bind their souls was consensual. Nothing insidious, nothing forced, just a mutual feeling of friendship. They care about each other, and Robin took on Joseph’s soul to keep him safe, and alive. Trigon dug into Joey’s soul as deep as he could, and held on tight. They should come apart very easily, no pain or significant risk.”

“Significant?” Starfire still sounded concerned. 

“Well, it’s soul magic,” Raven admitted. “It’s not to be taken lightly. However, if you all recall, soul magic is my specialty. I use it every day, manipulating parts of my soul to use my powers. As long as the new body- and Robin’s body -is healthy, then there will be no problems.”

Everyone seemed a lot more relaxed now that they knew it would be okay and that there was nothing scary on the horizon to anticipate. Everything was alright now; their friend would still be with them again, and he was no longer in danger of taking his own life. It was all behind them now. 

Robin excused himself to rest some more, still feeling a bit emotionally drained. He had a lot to think about, now knowing that he was a host to the soul of one of his best friends. Everyone was really understanding as he left them to go back to his room, and he was grateful for it. He really needed the time to think and reflect without any distractions. 

He shut the curtains, keeping the room dim. He sat on the floor cross-legged, beginning to meditate. Robin wasn’t as practiced at it as Raven was, but he knew how. He went so deeply into concentration that the next time he opened his eyes, hours had gone by. 

Yet, nothing, no sign of Joseph. 

Robin got up, feeling disappointed. He’d have liked to make sure his friend was okay, and talk to him a little bit to see if he could find out how things were like for Joseph. Maybe it was a little selfish; everyone else had gotten to talk to him for a minute or two, shouldn’t he get a chance? He moved to his dresser, taking off his mask to rub his tired eyes, looking at himself in the mirror. He almost expected to see some difference in himself, now that he was carrying two souls. Of course, there was no reason for him to look any different, but a skeptical part of him worried that somehow Joey’s soul wasn’t there, at least not anymore. If something happened, how would he know?

He stared at his own reflection, willing some sign to appear to tell him that Joseph was there, and that he was okay. 

“Come on…” he mumbled. “Please, tell me you’re still there?”

After a few quiet moments, he thought he felt something. He straightened up, gaze locked onto the mirror. He started to feel… sort of fuzzy, like he was dreaming. Not like before, when he was about to pass out, but definitely not all there. He saw one of his eyes sort of flicker, and then, in a blink, he was seeing himself with bright green eyes. A pleasant rush of warmth spread through him, as if to say  _ hello. _

He grinned. “You’re there…” His mind was filled with questions, but he could already tell that the connection between them was limited, since they couldn’t share his mind at the same time very easily. He was a little sad they didn’t seem able to talk, but at least he knew Joseph was okay. 

_ Give me your hand. _

It was so faint, less than a whisper in the back of his mind, but he relaxed enough to let Joseph take partial control. His hands moved on their own, taking a pencil and a pad of paper from the dresser. He started writing, but his vision blurred too much to read it right away, because Joey was using his eyes as well. After a few moments, he could see again, though still felt the presence of his friend. He read what was written, in Jericho’s handwriting.

_ Don’t feel sorry, or guilty. You saved me, and you’re protecting me. I’d be dead if you hadn’t done what you did. Even though I can’t talk to you like I did the others, I’ll be here with you always. I’m not gone, and you haven’t failed. Thank you.  _

The warmth grew, surrounding him even more, like a hug. He closed his eyes to savor the moment, touching the paper. After a while, it faded away, and when he opened his eyes again, they were blue. Joseph had withdrawn, back to where he stayed, tucked away in some safe, hidden corner of Robin’s own soul. Robin was under the impression that he was still resting and recovering, but he hadn’t disappeared. 

Robin himself yawned, still feeling worn out. It’d been a long few months. While things weren’t exactly over, the worst of it was. He changed into pajamas, somehow sensing that Joseph wasn’t going to (or maybe couldn’t?) watch his every action every minute of the day. He wasn’t sure how he knew it, but he did. It felt natural, and he relaxed. It was weird, when he thought about it, but it didn’t  _ feel  _ weird. He touched his chest with an ungloved hand, as he switched off the light. 

This was his duty, now. Besides being a Titan, being their leader and fighting crime, he alone could keep this soul safe. He had dropped the ball when it came to helping Joseph, but he wouldn’t do so now. He felt a sense of redemption. He could make up for the pain and fear Joey had gone through, by making sure it didn’t happen again. While he carried Joseph’s soul, Joey wouldn’t know any fear or pain. Just a long, well-deserved and peaceful rest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! So there you go. Next week I'll post the final chapter, it's an epilogue just to wrap things up. It'll jump forward in time just a bit, but not too far. It's full of warm fuzzies. And cold bodies. That'll make sense when you read it. Thanks for reading!


	5. Safe & Sound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joseph is restored to his (new) body, and everyone can finally breathe a sigh of relief. It's over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys thanks for reading! This is just a short little epilogue to wrap things up. I could have posted way faster since it's a lot shorter but I got distracted trying to find a new song for this chapter. I didn't like the song I picked when I first drafted it, and I'm not in love with the song I picked when I first posted it on FF. I think this song fits really well though, so I'm going with this. 
> 
> The song is [Safe & Sound](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzhAS_GnJIc&ab_channel=TaylorSwiftVEVO) by Taylor Swift.

“Take off your shirt,” Raven requested flatly. 

“But it’s freezing in here!”

“Do as she says,” Slade commanded sternly. A part of Robin (well, the part that  _ wasn’t _ him) felt an instinctive urge to listen to the man. He found himself taking off his t-shirt, but made no move to take off the sweats. There was just  _ no way _ he’d be losing those too. 

“You’re supposed to cool down,” Raven said. “The transition will go smoother if your bodies are the same temperature. And his has been on ice, so while we warm him up, you’re cooling down.”

“He’s- it’s here?” Robin questioned, looking around. Slade had been moving back and forth, to the other bed, which had the curtain drawn around it. Robin felt a double shiver, understanding what was behind it.

“Don’t be dense,” Raven chided him. “Of course he’s here, the whole point of this was to put him back into his body. Now get up on the other bed.”

Robin felt unease as he climbed into the free bed, and he could feel that Joseph felt the same way. Though they couldn't easily communicate with words or thoughts, it seemed that when Joseph was more ‘active’ they could feel each other’s feelings. Joseph was also aware of what was going on around them, somehow. Right now there was a lot of anticipation and nerves bouncing between them. 

“Relax,” Raven said gently, touching Robin’s bare shoulder. “Everything is going according to plan. It will take some time, but it’s almost over. Nothing will go wrong.”

“If it does?” he asked with uncertainty. They needed to know the back-up plan.

“If anything seems to be going wrong, we’ll put him back with you,” Slade said. “You’re home base. If we have to, we’ll reevaluate before trying again, but I doubt anything will go wrong. We know exactly what to expect and how to deal with it.”

He sounded very sure, which put both of them at ease, particularly Joseph. He trusted Slade, and Robin supposed he did now too. Six months ago, he’d been snarling at the man in the hospital. Now Slade was just a part of their daily lives, it seemed. Raven was relaxed enough around him, as they worked together to recreate a body for Joseph, one free of any trace of Trigon.

Robin closed his eyes, trying to keep their minds off of it while they waited. Fans were blowing on him, cooling his skin. He shivered, wishing he could have a blanket, but he doubted it would be allowed. Raven and Slade were both meticulous dictators over every little detail of this procedure. In the last few weeks the pair  _ had _ been going over every possible scenario, not leaving anything to chance. It was for the best, but it really sucked right now. 

“Alright, what needs doin’?” Cyborg asked, entering the room. Star and BB had already wished them luck, waiting out in the main room. The less people in here the better, according to Raven. 

“Would you set up all the monitors for Robin?” Raven asked, peering from around the curtain. “And take his temperature.”

Cyborg, curious, took a peek for himself at the body they were setting up on the other side. He let out a whistle. “That’s some pretty good cloning work. Should he be so pale, though?”

“Yes, at this point,” Slade said. “There’s not much blood in him, it’s been withdrawn, warmed up, and now we’re putting it back.”

“Also he’s dead,” Raven pointed out. “Now get back to work.”

Robin squirmed, the dual discomfort returning as they talked about the body. It really sounded like a  _ corpse _ the way Cyborg talked, and the stuff about blood was enough to make him feel a bit green.

“Don’t worry,” Cyborg said, “put this under your tongue and don’t think about it. I’ll hook you up.”

He stuck a thermometer into Robin’s mouth, who couldn’t help but feel like pouting. He felt a little bit babied with everyone taking control over this. All he could do was lie here and get cold. Cyborg hooked up the heart monitor and a few others that Robin wasn’t paying attention to. The whole thing made him nervous. The thermometer was taken out, read, and put back in. 

“We’re ready to go on this side,” Cyborg said. “Could probably get a little cooler, though. Good luck.”

He gave Robin a squeeze on the shoulder and left. The Teen Wonder tried not to be annoyed, though felt even  _ more  _ babied at this point. He crossed his arms over his chest, adjusting the thermometer with his tongue. 

It was a few minutes before anyone said anything again; the other two were very occupied on the other side of the curtain. He couldn’t hear too much, and they worked without speaking. He could only wait for them to finish. 

“That’s the last of it,” Slade said. “Cross-check the temperatures again, I’ll set up the monitors on this side.”

Raven came back around, taking the thermometer. “97.1, we shouldn’t go any lower if we can help it.”

“96.6,” Slade replied. “That’s as close as it will get, let’s get started.”

The curtain was drawn back and as he caught sight of the body, Robin choked on his breath, feeling as if he’d been punched in the gut. He turned his head sharply away, a wave of nausea coming over him. The feeling was double for Joseph, he could tell. 

“You knew it was there,” Raven said, seeming apathetic on the surface, but Robin knew her well enough to hear her concern. “I didn’t think you’d be this bothered.”

“ _ You’ve _ been looking at it for a month,” Robin’s voice came out strained. “ _ We _ weren’t prepared…”

“That’s why I had the curtain pulled,” Slade said. He’d expected this sort of reaction. It wasn’t natural to see your own body like this, particularly in such a state. Joseph’s body was still very pale, and somewhat thin. Healthy enough to be brought back to life, but definitely dead in the first place. Well, never having been alive this body might not technically be dead, but close enough.

“Can you shut it again?” Robin asked, not turning back and keeping his eyes stubbornly shut, as if faced with a gruesome monster. 

“I need the open space to move his soul over,” Raven said. “I’m sorry you’re both so disturbed, just don’t look.”

Reluctantly, he turned to face the ceiling, but Robin’s eyes remained shut for a while longer. Together they slowly started to relax again, but Joseph was deeply disturbed, unable to get the sight out of their head. They’d both seen his body, after he’d been killed, but it was different this time, for some reason. 

_ Not dead, not dead, not dead… _ They reassured each other. Robin focused on the sensation of having a second soul, reminding himself that Joseph hadn’t gone anywhere, and just because there appeared to be a dead body on the bed next to him didn’t change that. 

He paused in his thoughts, as they both remembered that these sensations would soon end. A bittersweetness rose up, erasing the last of the disturbance. Robin reflexively touched his chest- the closest they’d come to any physical contact during these last six months. 

“It’s okay,” Raven said gently, as she stood at a small stand between beds. She had a book open for reference on it, and was brushing up on some details. As if she hadn’t spent hours upon hours memorising this ritual. 

“Are we ready?” Slade asked. “Everything is set up, the defibrillator is charged. I’ll jumpstart his heart when you put the soul back in, and he should be on track from there. I’ve also got the doses of adrenaline ready, just as an extra boost if we need it.”

“I’m ready,” Raven confirmed. She looked to Robin, lightly touching his hand. “Stay relaxed. It won’t hurt and it won’t go wrong, so there’s no reason to be tense, alright?”

Joseph seemed to wonder what would happen if they  _ did _ tense up, but Robin decided to ignore the notion altogether. “Ready.”

Raven took a moment to center herself, eyes closed, before she started reciting the incantation. One hand was held over Robin’s chest. 

It felt so sudden, somehow. This was the end of something unique, a once-in-a-million experience. He almost wished he could wait, just a little longer, to have a longer goodbye. Once Joey was back in his own body, they wouldn’t be so close anymore. It was hard to imagine. 

_ Time to let go. _

Robin let out a breath, feeling more than air leave him. He saw a familiar pale-green orb, faintly glowing. He looked at it, feeling empty without it. He watched as Raven cupped her hand around it, gently moving it to her other hand. He watched, mildly fascinated and now less disturbed, as she carried it in the one hand until it was over Joseph’s chest. Her incantations went on, quiet and peaceful. She tipped her hand, letting the misty orb sink weightlessly into the chest cavity. She continued chanting, but gave a short nod to Slade.

The defibrillator pads were already stuck into place, and all Slade had to do was hit a switch. Breaking the serenity of the moment, Joseph’s body jumped from the shock, but the waves on the machine reading his heart rate didn’t pick up the rhythm. Raven kept chanting, making sure Joey’s soul stayed in place, while Slade hit the switch one more time. Soft beeps emitted from the machine, at a steady pace. Robin let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. 

Joseph inhaled sharply, exhaling with a weak cough. His body began to move just slightly, as he showed signs of life. Raven stopped chanting, her job complete. Slade monitored his son very carefully, ready in case anything went south from here. 

“Breathe,” he urged gently, “just breathe normally. You aren’t used to it.”

Joey listened, taking deeper breaths. He shivered, under the electric blanket, a soft groan coming from his lips. Robin, still fascinated by the events unfolding in front of him, finally got a good look at Joseph. He looked almost exactly the same, though paler, and thinner. His hair was shorter, maybe a bit lighter, and there was no longer a scar on his throat. There may have been a few other tiny differences, but since he hadn’t really  _ seen  _ his friend in six months, it was hard to tell. 

“Damn it’s cold….” the blonde mumbled slightly, eliciting a chuckle from his father as the man pulled all the blankets up over Joseph’s shoulders to help warm him up.

After a few moments of settling, Joseph did open his eyes, squinting in the light. The lights in here were dimmed, but to Joey any light might seem bright when he saw it with his own eyes. He turned his head, and Robin realized he’d been staring. He didn’t look away, though, and Joseph smiled drowsily at him. “Long time no see. You too Raven.” He looked up again. “Thanks dad…”

Slade’s hand ruffled the short curls slightly, with clear affection. He was a little hard to read, but Robin knew that Slade was overjoyed to have his son back, even if it was just on the inside. 

Joseph let out a cough, “Can I get some water?” His voice was dry and raspy, unused until now. Robin imagined that he’d probably be pretty thirsty; maybe hungry too. Slade handed Joey a glass of room-temperature water, reminding him to drink slowly. Robin sat up, taking off the monitors and putting his shirt back on. He didn’t quite feel different, but he still knew something was missing. As if he had forgotten his communicator without realizing it, there was an empty space in his chest, rather than in his belt. 

“Are you feeling alright?” Raven asked him. “Lightheaded or anything?” 

“I little tired, I guess?” Robin said, adjusting his t-shirt. “Drowsy. And cold.”

“Same here,” Joseph muttered. “Can I please get some clothes?”

“Coffee,” Robin said decisively. 

“Yes,” Joseph agreed with a firm nod. 

Raven snorted, headed out of the room. “I’ll go get the coffeemaker going.”

Slade held out a set of sweats and underwear. “These should fit you just fine.” Joseph smiled, carefully sitting up and taking them. He leaned against his father, who put his arm around the teen’s shoulders in an embrace. Weirdly, Robin felt that he should leave. Well, it was only weird because he was so used to being around Joseph. It was normal to be with him, so it was strange now to feel like he should leave. Still, the father and son deserved some time together, and Robin suddenly felt a little selfish for being the only one communicating in any way with the blonde for the last half of a year. 

“I’ll go help Raven out and let the others know it all went okay,” he said, getting out of bed. “Your coffee will be waiting for you whenever you’re ready.”

The other two gave short, non-verbal responses to acknowledge him leaving (at least it was something) so he didn’t wait for an answer. Robin left the room, alone. 

Joey sighed peacefully, content to soak up all the body heat from the man as he could. Slade was very warm, and he was very cold. 

“Thank you,” he murmured again. “For...everything.”

“For killing you and bringing you back to life?” Slade scoffed lightly. “Just fixing my mistakes for once. I got you into it, put you in danger.”

“Hey,” Joey looked up, without leaning away. “I spent the first month dealing with Robin guilt-tripping, I don’t need any from you.”

Slade let out a soft sigh, but didn’t say anything more, partially accepting it. 

“How about thanks,” Joseph continued, “for believing me.” 

His voice was soft, wavering slightly with emotion. It truly meant more to him than the new body, or at least  _ as _ much. Slade ran fingers through his son’s shorter hair some more, definitely accepting this thank you without guilt. 

“If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have made it as long as I did,” the blonde said. 

“I’m just glad you’re okay now,” Slade told him. “You should get dressed, your friends are waiting to see you.”

Joseph nodded, pulling away to put on the sweatshirt. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to,” the man confirmed. “My alliance with the Titans has been to get you back. I don’t think I’m very welcome to hang around much longer. Not that I’m particularly keen on hanging around in a tower with a bunch of teenagers for fun.”

Joey snorted softly, carefully getting up. He used the man to help balance himself, getting on the underwear and pants. His legs were definitely a little shakey, having never been used, but he would manage. 

“I want to see you again,” he said decisively. “We spent all these years apart. I know I’m a Titan now, and I definitely can’t hang out if you’re up to something bad, but, if you’re between jobs in the future…”

“When I’m in town I’ll contact you,” the man replied. “I’ll avoid any work in Jump, but I’ll come back now and then for a visit.”

Joseph smiled warmly, giving his father another tight hug. “Thanks dad.”

After just a few more moments together, it was time for Slade to leave, and Joseph to reunite with his friends. Not wanting to crash their reunion, Slade stayed behind to gather up his equipment. 

By the time he was walking through the main room to get to the elevator, the Titans were all thoroughly distracted with their formerly ‘dead’ friend. None of them would notice him slipping away. 

Joey was laughing, loud and hard, a sound that Slade had to pause to enjoy. He hadn’t heard that laugh in perhaps a decade. He could see that the changeling was presenting his son with a box of...kazoos? The joke was lost on the man, but never mind that. 

Raven glanced up, catching his eye. She made no signal to the others, but gave a single nod to Slade, who returned the gesture. 

If anything happened to Joseph, physically speaking, he’d given her a way to contact him. If something in his new body wasn’t working as it should, like if his heart weakened and gave out, he wanted to know about it right away. 

Slade left quietly, the teens’ happy reunion fading behind him. 

* * *

It was still dark out, Joseph could tell before he even made it up to the roof. It was too early for the sun to be up yet. About a week ago he’d been reintroduced to his own body, and while things had all gone well and he was happy to have a body again, there were some things he knew he was missing. 

As he arrived on the roof, he found that someone was already up here, standing near the edge, looking out to the horizon. A warm smile spread on his lips. 

“I knew you’d be up here,” he said, walking to stand next to Robin. As always, he spoke quietly. He still wasn’t entirely used to speaking at all, so he was usually quiet, sometimes even just mumbling. His friends didn’t mind, of course, listening carefully, encouraging him to talk as often as possible.

“I missed it.” 

“So did I.”

In their time together, they had learned and shared many things. Parts of themselves that couldn’t be explained, feelings that couldn’t be described. To be bound with another soul was, in one way, the closest two people could be. When Robin slept, they found a way to communicate through his subconscious mind. They shared dreams together, talking without words, and always watching an eternal sunrise. It stood for the last moment of peace they’d had together, tainted though it might be. Now that they were separated, they both had the same idea; to create new memories, free from the fear of the unknown.

“Sorry, I forgot to bring coffee,” Joseph said, breaking the silence with a small grin. Robin let out a soft laugh. 

“There’s always tomorrow,” the Teen Wonder said. “And the next day and the next…”

Joey breathed in the salty sea air, closing his eyes. “I didn’t think…”

Robin knew exactly what he was feeling, just based on his tone and how well ne now knew his friend. The last time they were up here together, (in person, not just in a dream) Joseph hadn’t thought he’d live to see another sunrise. Now the future stretched out in front of them, seemingly endless. 

“Thank you,” Joey said again. Now that he had a body, the tears and the tightness in his throat were audible, not just a vague feeling. He let a few fall down his cheeks, enjoying every last second he was here,  _ alive. _

“I’m sorry,” Robin repeated his own words.

“Stop it,” the blonde scolded him gently. “Everything’s okay. You’ve said it a million times, that’s more than enough.”

“I’m still so sorry we didn’t believe you,” he said. “We made it worse that way, and if we’d kept looking in the first place you might not have died.”

“You did believe me,” Joseph answered, looking over to him. “I know you did, on the inside, you believed me. There was no way for you to  _ know _ , and nothing you could do to fix it.”

Robin could tell by Joey’s tone that he was genuinely hurt that Robin still felt guilty. He knew that Joseph didn’t want him to feel guilty, though he couldn’t understand why. By all means, Joseph should be filled with frustration and anger, seeing as no one listened to him, dismissing him as crazy and keeping him practically isolated. While it’d been necessary to keep him from killing himself, it made Robin uncomfortable to think about. 

Joseph should be angry at all of them, but he wasn’t. Robin knew, he’d felt his friend’s emotions for himself. Joey didn’t have a shred of anger or resentment. It was in the past, now, and that was it. 

“It’s hard to believe it’s all over,” Joseph said, speaking their shared thoughts. They were still in sync, though not as close. “It felt so inescapable before, but now everything is back to normal. As if nothing happened.”

“Not quite,” Robin disagreed. “We’ve changed, for the better.” He looked thoughtful. “You’re my best friend.”

“Brother,” Joey corrected.

Robin smiled. He’d never had siblings of his own, really, but he knew it meant something coming from Joseph. “Yeah. There’s not really a word for someone you’ve bonded your soul to, is there? Brother… I like the sound of that.”

The blonde smiled back. “Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again, everyone! I'll post something new next week- something exclusive to AO3! Well, a new, extended version of something old, but it's new content either way so it counts. Check back in a week for more of Jericho in distress!
> 
> Once again, the song is [Safe & Sound](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzhAS_GnJIc&ab_channel=TaylorSwiftVEVO) by Taylor Swift.

**Author's Note:**

> The lyrics used are a translation by The Unknown Songbird, as sung by Caleb Hyles, it can be found [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E23q-RX9hvY&ab_channel=CalebHyles)
> 
> I'll post once a week, see you next Wednesday!


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